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We are launching Christmas decorations paying tribute to simplicity, to the warmth of the home in front of a fireplace, on soft wool rugs and on the side of a natural and artisan tree that has been climbed by a family of gnomes that came out of hiding, in a beautiful León estate, to look out into the Asturian winter.
Our Christmas was born in summer.
In mid-August, mom, Pablo and I traveled to León to visit a good friend, Alba Rueda, and to meet her boy, Álvaro. We took a collection of clothes and took a lot of photos of mom with all the animals that live with the couple on their farm. Mom posed with Sir William Wallace, a very elegant and aristocratic greyhound; with Cleopatra, an imposing and untamed eagle; with Maggie, a purebred Wensleydale sheep (a British species from the early 19th century that is characterized by its large size, bluish face and long, high-quality curly wool) and with Cacique, Álvaro's noble white horse.
Over the course of our visit, Alba updated me on what her new life was like. We had met in our time as journalists, she on the radio and I in the written press, and it had been almost 20 years since we had seen each other. Since then, their lives had taken radical turns. Alba confessed that she was happy in the countryside, with a much quieter life, dedicated to taking care of her animals, tending to the farm and devoting herself to a passion that had fascinated her: wool. She showed me some of her work: tapestries, rugs, cushions, quilts, t-shirts, sweaters, hats... She did the entire manufacturing process by hand, she told me. Cut the wool, wash it, dry it, comb it, spin it (with the help of a spinning wheel), dye it (always using natural dyes), roll it into skeins and weave it. His work fascinated me. He had pieces on the sofa, on the bed, or stored in the attic, where he had set up his workshop, truly wonderful. And with the generosity that characterizes her, she offered them to me for our shop windows.
-Oh really? Wow! It would be the cane. I'd love to-
-Well, choose what you want. It's all yours, even the spinning wheel, if it suits you.
Me quedé con todo el material que me había ofrecido en la cabeza y a los diez días de haberla visitado, ya de vuelta en Oviedo, le envié un WhatsApp contándole que se me había ocurrido una decoración navideña para la tienda en la que sus creaciones fueran las protagonistas. «Imagina una Navidad rústica, rural y hogareña. Quiero volver a exponer un árbol hecho con varas de avellano que había realizado hace muchos años para otro escaparate y rodearlo de lana, de calidez. En torno a él, uno de tus cojines con unas botas encima, una manta en el suelo repleta de regalos, un tapiz de fondo… Además, con el Covid-19, la moda este año es muy de andar por casa, muy deportiva y hogareña, e iría genial expuesta en ese entorno. ¿Qué te parece?»
-Buff! "It's going to be amazing and I'm very excited," he answered.
From then on, we were both mulling over the idea and adding suggestions. I proposed to Alba a slogan for our campaign: Christmas from El Antiguo Iriarte, playing with the words Wool and Christmas. She was enthusiastic and then introduced me to a charming family of gnomes who hide around their house almost all year round and who reappear whenever they please, generally at Easter. They were three colorful characters with large felt cones, long wool braids and beards, and colorful crocheted outfits. She made them too.
«Pero mis tres gnomos son muy pequeños, ya te hago algo más grande para los escaparates», anunció, y, pasados unos días, me envió una foto de Heimdall, el «Dios blanco, hijo de Odín» y Hrolleif, el «lobo viejo». «Son supervivientes de un naufragio y han aprendido a ocultarse para poder viajar sin contratiempos. Son campesinos y les gusta rellenar sus capirotes con paja para protegerse del frío (son bastante frioleros a pesar de venir del Norte) y para recordar sus orígenes. Detestan que los confundan y que piensen que todos los gnomos son iguales. Les gusta cambiar las cosas de sitio, no soportan el agua ni para beber, se preparan sus propios destilados de hierbas y bayas y a veces se emborrachan con algún fermentado y dicen que es por culpa del frío. No son nada niñeros y prefieren a sus mamás», relató Alba. A mi amiga, que crea estas criaturas por diversión y para agasajar a su amistades, le encanta idear la carta de presentación de cada personaje. Junto con Heimdall y Hrolleif, llegaron otros cuatro gnomos, algo más pequeños, algunos de barbas oscuras y gorros zurcidos.
In September, taking advantage of the fact that I was coming to Asturias to teach a natural dyes and ecoprint workshop at the Botanical Garden of Gijón, my friend loaded all the material she found at home for our Christmas into the jeep and brought it to the store. Since then, carpets, tapestries, cushions, large skeins and long fleeces rested in the store's warehouse, guarded by that gang of mischievous gnomes who did not always show themselves.
All that material had to be wrapped in a favorable environment. But I already had it all in my head. In the window on the right, we would place the tree made from hazel sticks on some of Alba's rugs. Wool and wood. A perfect combination. We would decorate the tree with small copper balls and black and white photographs of my parents. This is how I have it at home and this is how I wanted to present it, paying tribute to the family, the people I love and the people I miss. To take care of them, of mine, I would invite that small family of gnomes that appeared and disappeared at Álvaro and Alba's house to hang from the branches. The wool at their feet and the heat from the light bulbs would give them the comfort they liked so they could stay with us all Christmas.
On the other moon, the one on the left, we would lay more wool rugs and build an exposed brick chimney to shelter that other gang of gnomes who had survived the shipwreck and were led by Heimdall and Hrolleif. Our bamboo deer with a flowery garland around its neck would also have a place there. This project required an extensive excursion to the Leroy Merlin in which Mom, Vane and I studied materials, possibilities and budget. We opted to buy wallpaper imitating brick and build our home with a wooden module that we usually have in the shop window, cardboard boxes and sheets of foam board. For the fire, we would rescue a canvas on brown paper that the painter Enrique Pinin had made a few years ago for another of our creations and that we kept like gold in cloth in the storage room.
And, as a final touch, Cova Fernández-Tresguerres suggested to us a few days ago that we hang on one of our moons a painting by his father, Andrés Tresguerres, in which the painter masterfully captured a corner that we love and that is just a stone's throw away. from the store, the corner of Fontán and Arco de los Zapatos streets, where florists have placed their stalls since time immemorial. We did not find space between gnomes and wool but we did manage to give it a location that would highlight its light and its beauty and give it all the prominence. Inside the store, behind the counter, in that space papered as if it were an Asturian forest in winter and that we made up like a fifth showcase of The Old Iriarte, the work that our friend brought us, framed in gold, found its place next to a Christmas tree decorated in the same tone and illuminated warmly. We also added to the set a large ball of wool and several strands that Alba left us to cover the feet of the tree.
This is how the theme of another Christmas was conceived and created with you, in this corner of Magdalena Street that we love to decorate every year to give light and joy to our city and our neighbors. They are simple showcases that claim warm, welcoming and endearing parties. Without any big fuss and with the people we love. That is Christmas from The old Iriarte. Happy Holidays!
c/ Magdalena, 24
Oviedo (Asturias)
33009
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