finding our way through February 2024

February, the second and shortest month of the year can sometimes feel like the longest, and not necessarily in a good way.

In the north, it's when winter is dragging her heels through the mud and we are anxiously on the look out for the first tiny signs of spring.

Downunder, we're just trying to protect the remnants of our summer gardens from being seared and shrivelled.

Many of us know the burden of Seasonal Affective Disorder, an often debilitating condition brought on in the northern reaches of the Northern Hemisphere by the limited hours of daylight at the bleak end of winter. In the south, though we are blessed with the luxury of long, light-filled days, we sometimes feel the exhausting heat of summer may never end.

I have been building a tradition of dreaming up a bit of an adventure to help others who struggle at this time. I don't have all the answers, but I do know that having something delightful to look forward to can help (along with a lovely cup of tea) so this is the fifth year of February projects.

For this year's armchair adventure you will want scraps from your ragbag, perhaps fragments of clothing from loved ones you have lost (or those you simply miss), maybe your collection of (smaller) dye samples and some lovely thread for stitching. You'll want your favourite needle(s), any beads and small buttons that might be drifting about and a little bell or three.

We are going to make a little something inspired by dream-catchers, by prayer flags, by bell-pulls, by hopeful fluttering pennants and by the sacred rag-dressed wells of Scotland and Latvia (I'm sure there are more in other cultures, but those twoare in my field of experience)...but without particular religious affiliations (though you can add those at your discretion if you wish). A little something that can dance in a breeze by an open door or simply glimmer sweetly in the presence of candlelight. When spring comes you can hang it in your garden to discourage winged visitors from nibbling your seedlings, or in an entryway where visiting bodies may brush by it and set it tinkling to announce their coming...or perhaps in a dedicated tree near a pond (or a birdbath).

You can stitch as much or as little as you like, draw and write on the pieces if you wish, even play on them with your watercolours if you are in the shivering cold of the north where coaxing extra colour from plant matter might be tricky. Please note though, that this course does not include instructions for dyeing with plants.

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There will be a little offering ready for each day, nothing too long, but something either useful (such as a technique) or uplifting (and possibly even poetic).

Watercolours are entirely optional, however there is a 10% discount code for Deep Deep Light colours included in the course (and no, I do not profit from endorsing them other than occasionally exchanging gifts with their lovely makers).