Christmas week has arrived! Six more days until Christmas morning. The childlike frenzy of tearing open gifts under the tree. The excitement of choosing which gift to play with first. Then come the wonderful smells as Mother rustles in the kitchen preparing Christmas dinner.
Christmas Eve to Christmas Day was a well staged event. Even if most of it was in my imagination. My father would light a Presto log in the fireplace so I could write a letter to Santa and send it up in smoke to the North Pole. Midnight mass followed on the heels of whatever Christmas shows were on television, which was a thrill on its own since bedtime was 8pm in normal circumstances. The restless sleep awaiting the morning when we'd race to the tree and drag our parents out of bed so they could watch the spectacle. This is the memory that stays with me through the years. It's a feeling deep in the heart that cannot be erased by time. And so it is this year.
When I was a child I had two very specific dreams. One was to become a ballerina, and the other was to learn how to ice skate and fly across a frozen lake. Movies of Sonja Henie and her skating revues in costumes that rivaled any tutu, movies like The Bishop's Wife and the great skating rink scene, fueled my imagination. I even had a skating costume
Books by Rand McNally like Little Ballerina and Little Skater were poured over daily as I read how the shy child triumphed in her dream.
It wasn't until I was 20-years-old that I learned how to skate. Our mall had opened a rink and I signed up to take lessons. I loved those years and was actually quite good. I learned how to fall, and this learning how to let the body go and fall with-
out injury, was something that helped me in cross-country skiing. My dream of skating outdoors on a real frozen lake didn't happen until 1990 when my then husband Mark, and I, went to New Hampshire one winter. It's not all it's cracked up to be. Lots of bumps and things to look out for, but it was magic. I skated on the Boston Common. I skated on a lake near the coast and froze my yinny off. That child in me still dreams of skating the endless river and flying with the wind.
When Rachel Hoffman posted a sneak peek silhouette of Club Grace's selection for December, I knew. I knew! I immediately found some ice-skating blades to fit Dolly's feet and was lucky to have an even smaller pair for Remmie Lou. I was finishing up Cissy's Shiny Brite party dress and coat, and knew I'd have time to make something for the little ones while awaiting the subscription box.
The skates for Grace are typical of this era, too. Figure skates were very tall back then. I'm not sure when they shortened them to just cover and support the ankles, but as the demand for serious athletics turned skating into triple and quadruple axles, the need for the ultimate support in design, shortened them. I suspect old skates weren't padded as the professional ones today are, either.
What I noticed first when I looked at the skates, was that they were made like Cissy's ski boots. To have a flat based shoe on a high heeled foot, you need a special design. It was fun seeing this.
Someday someone will show me how to use a computer program to put dolls in scenic backgrounds. Until then, this is my photography.
Dolly was fun to dress. For those of you new to my blog and the Virtual Doll Convention, Dolly Dingle was the VDCs mascot. And the bulldog? Remmie Lou is one of Rachel's dogs, and Diana Vining used to draw both of them into her illustrations with Grace. Things have changed, and we don't see much of them anymore, if at all.
I used to bring to life whatever Dolly was wearing that Diana drew. It was a challenge. It was fun. It was what I loved to do. Bring paper dolls to life. Now I have to get creative and that keeps the old gray matter healthy and functioning well.
It's my mission to use the fabrics I have on hand since I have a closet full of fabric. However, finding a knit for a skating sweater would be difficult among the silks, velveteens and cotton prints. I finally caved and cut up a Land's End knit top that I had and never wore. It was perfect for Dolly.
I made her a pair of white tights and knew that when she did one of her spins her skirt would fly up, so I made her a pair of matching bottoms to go under the skirt.
The end of a sleeve made for the perfect knit hat, and I made a baby soft yarn pom-pom with a pom-pom maker by Clover.
The skates were fun to make. Little white leather boots with skating blades attached. This will surely be one of my favorite outfits for her.
Her tiny, stubby hands needed to be warm, so I made her tiny mittens out of the stocking jersey.
Grace and Dolly don't go anywhere without Remmie Lou by their side, so I made a costume for her as well.
Remmie Lou got a blue skating skirt out of wool, and a scarf from the sweater material I used for Dolly.
But the skates were the best! Of course she's sitting this one out, but if any dog could ice skate on her back legs, Remmie Lou could. Diana could have done an adorable illustration of this. I don't understand why Dolly and Remmie Lou are no longer illustrated, but things have changed over the last two years and I suspect the focus is less on playfulness and more on fashion. There's even a second illustrator now, who draws quite beautifully.
Remmie's skirt snaps in the back for ease of dressing. Dogs don't like to wear clothes anyway, but Remmie Lou is a good sport.
And so the day comes to a close as does this journal posting. The early dark of night is expected and even welcome as the light sensor Christmas lights come on early on homes in and around our neighborhood. I love Christmas light displays. It's the bling we love during the holiday season. And in a couple of days the Winter Solstice will arrive and minute by minute, day by day, the sun will last a little longer each day.
Every Christmas season, I enjoy listening to my Windham Hill CDs. One year I discovered Winter Solstice on Ice, which was music that was played to a special televised ice-skating event. Beautiful music. At least the first cd is. I skate in my mind and heart when I listen to it.
My next posting will be before New Year and will capture what I've done over the past year. I enjoy thinking back as much as I do looking forward.
I hope you'll enjoy the selection of skating illustrations below. Vintage and space age retro. As a little girl growing up in the 1960s, these darling images of skaters on ice would fuel my imagination and give me a lifelong love of ice skating.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a special Winter Solstice.
Melissa
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