Holde and the two hares

 

This is Holde, the last doll of 2025 and finished on the solstice. She is a winter doll and tells the story of Holde and the White Hares, a favourite of my Grandmother.
Holde was the granddaughter of winter but she loved the spring. One morning looking out at the bleak winter greyness she set out to find spring. First she went to the river but could not see spring in its reflection so then she went to the forest but could not see spring. After thinking a while she decided to see if she could see spring from the high hills, see spring in the distance. But on the high hills the snow came and she quickly got very lost. Cold and alone she was spotted by her grandmother's servants the two white hares of the high hills. Malin and Filou, the guardian hares. They quickly took her back to her grandma and she waited for spring in her grandmothers court with the two hares who turned brown again in the spring sunshine.
There was a lot more to their adventure but that is the ghist. She is dressed in a fabulous, now discontinued fabric by Acufactum called Winter Fairytale with Holde and a white hare on her dress. Teamed with a dot print cotton in taupe and white lace petticoats. Her fawn wool cape is heavily embroidered with two folk art hares and snow flakes with warm winter boots and a tawny bobble hat.
She has tigers eye to her heart with rosemary in her stuffing for winter.
The dolls I am working on at the moment are slowly taking winter into spring and I am enjoying the slow transition.