Saint Patrick wasn't Irish!

Who knew?  I was curious about the origins of the St. Patrick's Day holiday, so I went searching.  This is what I found:

 "Who was Saint Patrick and why do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day?"

Answer:  The man eventually canonized as Saint Patrick by the Catholic Church was born to a wealthy family in 387 A.D. in Kilpatrick, Scotland. His real name was Maewyn Succat. It was his extensive missionary work in Ireland for which he is famous. During the thirty years of work there he supposedly converted over 135,000 people, established 300 churches, and consecrated 350 bishops. He died on March 17, 461 A.D.

History records that Saint Patrick, at age sixteen, was captured by Celtic raiders and spent several years as a slave in Ireland. It was during this time that he learned the various rituals, customs, and language of Celtic Druids. It was these people that he eventually converted to Catholicism. He apparently had a dream in which God spoke to him saying “Your ship is ready.” Saint Patrick was then able to escape by ship back to Britain. Shortly thereafter, he experienced another dream in which he received a letter which claimed to be the “voice of the Irish.” When he opened it, he heard the voices of all those who he had met in Ireland begging him to return.

Saint Patrick then began a course of study to become ordained a bishop in the Catholic Church and returned back to Ireland to establish the church. Though the task was difficult and dangerous, he persisted and was able to build a strong foundation for Christianity. The Irish people were very receptive to his teachings especially in light of the fact that he was able to take several of their Celtic symbols and Christianize them. The most prominent of these is the green shamrock, a certain type of clover. He used this plant, which was held sacred by the Druids, as a symbol of the Trinity. Additionally, Saint Patrick was instrumental in bringing alcohol to Ireland which eventually had a significant impact upon the Irish culture.

Each year millions of people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. It is a national holiday in Ireland when people do not work, but observe it in worship and family gatherings. In the United States, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in New York on March 17 of 1762. It consisted largely of Irish soldiers. Today, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by wearing green which symbolizes the return of spring as well as the Irish culture. Also, prominent in this celebration is green beer, pointing back to Saint Patrick’s introduction of alcohol to Ireland.

What initially started as a Catholic holiday became an official feast day in the 17th century. Since then it has become a secular celebration of the Irish culture. Neither Saint Patrick or St. Patrick’s Day is mentioned in Scripture. While we would strongly disagree of some of the aspects of Catholic theology that St. Patrick taught, the fact that around 1600 years ago a man dedicated his life to proclaiming the Gospel, resulting in tens of thousands coming to faith in Christ – that is most definitely worth celebrating (Luke 15:7-10).

Recommended Resources:Logos Bible Software and Balancing the Christian Life by Charles Ryrie.

Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/St-Patricks-Day.html#ixzz2NeSeCdY0

Trying my hand at the Knook

Crochet has been my craft of late. I tend to run in spurts. My grandmother started me off with stamped cross stitch hand embroidery. High school and my mother encouraged garment and home decor sewing. Then I went on to plastic canvas, rug hooking, knitting and crochet. I was introduced to loom knitting a couple of years ago. This Christmas I picked up the Knook by Leisure Arts.

This technique is promoted as knitting with a crocket hook.  The tool is a crochet hook with a life line on the opposite end from the hook.  The line cord actually is a substitute for the second needle.  I did a small swatch of the knit and purl stitches.  Leaning more towards crochet, I found it fairly awkward and wonder if it wouldn't be faster to use regular needles.  The upside is it so much easier to pick up a dropped stitch since this life line stays in place until you are finished with the row.

Then I tried it with a specialty ruffle yarn.  Much easier than my previous methods and faster.  Now that I have the hang of it, we'll see what great creation will appear off this hook?  :)

The Yarn Minder

Yarn Minder

 Working with this specialty yarn is fairly easy, once you know the tricks. Although Sashay comes in a ball, it is twisted and condensed. The ribbons come in a hank, which needs to be dealt with very gently so not to tangle into a bird's nest.  Both should be rewound onto a tube such as the inside of a paper towel roll. Once wound flat, the project rolls smoothly into place.


I designed the Yarn Minder pictured to steady the flow to my needles. My dear sweet husband made it a reality with some wood and some small diameter PVC pipe. The Yarn Minder double decker is great for using two together as one. In the picture, I'm actually making two scarves at the same time on a knitting loom.  

I really wanted something sturdy.  I made some scarves for gifts last month, and winding the ruffle yarn on the pvc pipe helped a lot.  But it was just rolling on the end table behind a couple of coffee cups.  LOL  This works much better.

Necessity is the mother of invention, so they say.   Sometimes you have to make do with what is at hand.  Sometimes you have a husband that is just itching to use his power tools.