The Wearin' O' the Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day! For all those who are Irish I know it is a hugely significant day. For all who aren't, this is your day to BE Irish! Now we all know it's the day you wear green, drink green beer and party like crazy, but what truths actually lie behind the celebration of this day? What is it's significance?

St. Patrick was a real living man, born in the latter part of the 4th Century. It is believed that he brought religion to Ireland, thus ending eons of paganism on the Fair Isle. St. Patrick's Day began as a day of both spiritual renewal for the person and prayer for missionaries worldwide. For those who would like more information you can find some here: http://www.st-patricks-day.com/index.asp
here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick's_Day
here: http://wilstar.com/holidays/patrick.htm
and here: http://www.history.com/minisites/stpatricksday/

For those interested in the celebration of the day, including crafts, food and festivities you can find a lot of information here: http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/patrick/
and here: http://www.billybear4kids.com/holidays/stpatty/fun.htm

Now onto us crocheters who also have specific traditions, celebrations and items that we like to make and/or receive on this greatest of all Irish holidays. I'm providing several links to crochet patterns that are particularly Irish. Now first we will look at various squares for afghans, beginning here: http://www.karpstyles.com/crochet/shamrock1.html where we find a traditional granny square turned Irish. This link takes you to an afghan stitch square done with the shamrock: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Shores/4536/crochet.htm
and another square: http://web.archive.org/web/20021201122029/http://www.crochetpartners.org/Patterns/CPpat200.html
Here we have a pattern for a Shamrock Quilt Afghan: http://www.coatsandclark.com/Crafts/Crochet/Projects/TV%20Projects/Shamrock%20Quilt%20Afghan.htm

As for pins there are so many it's hard to choose just a few. I will post a few here but if you'd like to see more of them you can find them on my HQ page under Holidays: St. Patrick's Day. http://www.myhq.com/public/c/r/crochetpoet/
Pins:
http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/shamrockpin.html
http://crochet.about.com/library/blshamrock.htm
http://www.jpfun.com/patterns/free/107/f107003fourleafclover.shtml

We also have those miscellaneous Irish related patterns as well. http://www.crochetmemories.com/archive/march4.html
http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa031503.htm
http://www.cm-crafts.com/cloverbookmarker.htm

Last, but certainly not least is a pattern I've had in my WIM's collection for a very long time. I keep putting it aside as I cannot at this point afford to purchase all that wool to make this lovely item. Go to this link: http://www.freepatterns.com/list.html?cat_id=340
scroll down to the Irish Cape and Scarf Pattern, click on download pattern and then you will be prompted to log in or join. Joining is free; if you're already a memeber you just log in and download the pattern. The downloaded pattern gives a full front view of the cape. It's absolutely awesome.

This is by no means all the Irish/St. Patrick's Day related patterns out there. I have quite a few more on my HQ page and I'm sure there are even more that I haven't gotten posted on my page. Do a google search if you don't find what you're looking for. Most of all, enjoy the day and don't drink too much green beer!