Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Holly Jolly Christmas, 331⁄2" x 311⁄2", #8-, 8.5-, and 9-cut wool on linen. Designed and hooked by Lucille Festa, Pawlet, Vermont, 2017.

Indian summer is a glorious time in Vermont. Mother Nature is at her best, and the mountains are alive with colors of unbelievable beauty. Each year seems more beautiful than the last. But within a month, the foliage disappears, and the days grow shorter and colder. The whistling wind reminds us that winter is coming.

Lovely as the autumn is, my favorite time of year is winter and Christmas is my favorite holiday. I anticipate the holiday season and my Christmas spirit rises up. Christmas in Vermont is magical—it is a time of family, friends, traditions, and memories. One of our holiday traditions is to snuggle up by the fire and watch the old holiday movies. “White Christmas” is our favorite—we all sing “Snow, snow, snow . . .. ”

While putting away the holiday movies last year, I picked up “Frosty the Snowman” and immediately thought of Burl Ives. His voice, uniquely husky, once heard is not forgotten.

At that moment, I knew the time had come for a snowman rug. Within two weeks the rug design was on paper, and after a lot of drawing and redrawing, it was on linen and I was hooking away.