Birch, Our Lady of The Woods
The journey that took me to discover and birth this beautiful doll didn’t just take a few months, it has been years in the making.
The first seed was planted when I sent a postcard of Cygnet to a darling mama, who had recently discovered Waldorf dolls and bought one from me for her daughter. Our amazing friendship started then and a few years ago we finally met in real life in one of my most cherished places on earth: Granada.
When she discovered my work, more than 10 years ago, she fell head over heels and the need to create exploded out of her. She became a dollmaker and experimented with her hands, imagination and taste. Her work blossomed and it was so beautiful to see her grow.
The second seed was planted after she received the postcard of Cygnet and I mentioned on a newsletter that I didn’t have tiny dpns to knit with. So she bought me a set and sent me a couple of skeins of Shibui Knits to knit with. I have been so blessed over the years with the generosity of so many people, who love my dolls and want to encourage my making hands with beautiful materials and supplies they send my way!
But as life is, it takes us on incredible journeys and she had to pause her dollmaking adventures. Not knowing when she was going to go back to dollmaking, she contacted me wanting to send me some of her supplies so I could make use of them on my dolls.
I was worried about her silence but understood her need to remain quiet. I tried my best to honour all her generosity and used the materials she gave me on so many things I personally use in my studio. Some made it onto dolls, some are still waiting for the right time.
The years passed on.
The third seed was planted in 2024 I opened registration for workshops in Spain and all of a sudden here she is, resurrected and wanting to make dolls with me. In one of my favourite places on earth, Granada, Spain. The place where I met my husband.
We had the most amazing few days together, drinking endless sangria, listening to flamenco and finally meeting in real life, talking so much about our lives, our dreams, our need for doll making, what it does for us, etc. We hoped to keep in touch with perhaps a few visits now that we were going to be in Portugal.
Then this year she asked me to make her a custom doll, a Mannikin, and she described pretty much a doll like Cygnet.
This is how Birch was born.
It took me a couple of months to create her body but I just couldn’t sculpt her face. I needed her story in my head. Then her mama shared with me some pages in one of her very old journals, and lo and behold, there is the postcard of Cygnet. We knew what the doll was needing then.
Birch came out of the wool ether with such enthusiasm that I haven’t been able to put even pen to paper yet…she is a true force of nature.
Her story came to me like the fog that envelops the lake in the mornings and wafts through the spruce tops vanishing into the depths of the forest. I felt a mythical being, with bare feet, walking slowly over a mossy bed, with flowers sprouting by her feet. Her bird-song voice beckoned me to work day and night, until we shook hands and smiling, got to know each other even more.
With her long white hair, born of Cotswold locks, all of a sudden I knew she was connected to birches, some of my favourite trees!
On reading more about birches, since I felt so strongly this is who she was, I found out why. Birches are connected to fertility and new beginnings, as they were the first pioneering tree species after the withdrawal of the ice age.
Many ancient cultures revered birch and used their wood for baby cribs (to ward off evil spirits), to clean the house and to make Spring bonfires and the traditional Maypole. Birches provide food, medicine and a beautiful dye I’ve used on more than one occasion, and which I did use in a little part of Birch’s wardrobe. I’ve always loved them because I find it so weird that a tree is white and the bark so curly. And they smell great which is a bonus.
Birch is also called “the lady of the woods”, especially in a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I just couldn’t stop smiling.
So Birch, here she was, in all her true glory. A doll meant to rescue my friend, not from anything bad happening, but as a lending hand. A doll to inspire her, to help her connect with that little girl inside her who never got to have beautiful toys to play with, who never experienced the joy of making until she discovered dollmaking, who knows there is a deep world full of magic and sometimes it is veiled to us by life’s harshness…but luckily for us, it is always there. Patiently waiting.
A doll made of fabric and moon rays, dowsed in boreal mist and mossy energy, whose hair almost looks like mycelium and her brown eyes just ground you back into reality. A doll dressed as a true goddess, with serendipity as her best friend and luck as her middle name. Everything came just right, at the exact time I needed it, without much prodding or agonizing. Including the design of her royal crown.
I saw this crown and I was possessed. I knew Birch needed something similar and here we are. With her, dressed like a medieval princess, with a dress made of knitted lace cashmere fabric and trailing sleeves, white leather shoes and that crown.
And while this doll is a long sibling of Cygnet, I think she is very much her own little person, don’t you agree?
More on her soon, as she has quite the wardrobe. In one of those amazing moments, Birch chose the same Shibui Knits lace yarn that her Mom sent me almost 10 years ago, to encourage me to knit in a tiny gauge. We’ve come full circle 🌿.
