Beware The Ides of March!

The Ides of March

Just one of a dozen Ides that occur every month of the year

by Borgna Brunner

The soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March," has forever imbued that date with a sense of foreboding. But in Roman times the expression "Ides of March" did not necessarily evoke a dark mood—it was simply the standard way of saying "March 15." Surely such a fanciful expression must signify something more than merely another day of the year? Not so. Even in Shakespeare's time, sixteen centuries later, audiences attending his play Julius Caesar wouldn't have blinked twice upon hearing the date called the Ides.

The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Whether it was Romulus or not, the inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:

• Kalends (1st day of the month)
• Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months)
• Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months)

The remaining, unnamed days of the month were identified by counting backwards from the Kalends, Nones, or the Ides. For example, March 3 would be V Nones—5 days before the Nones (the Roman method of counting days was inclusive; in other words, the Nones would be counted as one of the 5 days).

Days in March

March 1: Kalends;
March 2: VI Nones;
March 3: V Nones;
March 4: IV Nones;
March 5: III Nones;
March 6: Pridie Nones (Latin for "on the day before");
March 7: Nones;
March 15: Ides

Used in the first Roman calendar as well as in the Julian calendar (established by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C.E.) the confusing system of Kalends, Nones, and Ides continued to be used to varying degrees throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance.

So, the Ides of March is just one of a dozen Ides that occur every month of the year. Kalends, the word from which calendar is derived, is another exotic-sounding term with a mundane meaning. Kalendrium means account book in Latin: Kalend, the first of the month, was in Roman times as it is now, the date on which bills are due.

Brioche Knitting--Well, Trying.......

Okay, I'm at it again......................................................!  Stephen West came up with a selection of Brioche knitted patterns and I was right there with my charge card--what was I getting into?  I wrote a blog about brioche (What is Brioche Anyway?, Sept 22, 2015).  I just can't resist Stephen's patterns--so creative, colorful and wearable!

I found my fiber--been using this fiber for multi projects--start, rip out, don't like, so the fiber is well aged, that's for sure!

it's a nice fiber and I like the colors and this pattern (Briochevron Scarf) uses two colors.

I began--I cast on--looks like one big mess to me!

okay, go watch some youtube videos--I'm on the right track--just need to 

concentrate for awhile until I've got this stitch under my belt.  After several attempts of

getting this right, I decide to sign up for Nancy Marchant's lessons on

Craftsy--perfect--on sale too!

Doesn't this look so cool?  Maybe, I should have stuck with one color brioche knitting 

before tackling two colors?  

Cyber Fiber '97

Many moons ago, as social networks were just heating up the internet, I joined an internet group of fiber artists that discussed everything from dyeing to weaving, etc. 

We were an eclectic group.............

and a fun time for us as we ventured through the wide world web learning the 

ins and outs of fiber art.

Then, there was the chance to do an art apron challenge

The other day while cleaning out my fiber closet,

I found my apron! 

There was an catalogue with all the aprons, photos, reviews from the

judges and artist statements for each apron.

Here is my artist statement--I know--it's hard to read, but now if you have a 

smart phone or reading from an Ipad, you can enlarge--

we had no such thing in 1997.

My apron was titled--"Mother--still attached"

Our aprons were displayed at International Quilt Festival, Fall, 1997 and

the collection went on tour in various states.

My apron was selected as one of the ones that

was presented in lectures----aren't we all still attached to our

mothers--even though we try to cut those apron strings time and time again.

There is always a way we are mending those ties......

Still Attached to Mother!

Almost There..........................................Bonnie

OH, yes!  It's almost there--just need to add a few touches to call it a complete project!

I'm talking about Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Mystery,  Allietare .  The pattern was free for a few months but now it's a digital download--well worth the $8.

So the final pieces to the puzzle are these corner blocks

one star block with gold centers and the red center blocks were shown in a previous post

The little 'fishy' blocks were used in the red center blocks--I think I could use these in another

quilt with water as the background...................hmm, I'm thinking.............

sorry--did a little aside there

Here it is laid out on the floor.  I always have trouble with diagonal layouts,

so, doing each row at a time is helping and starting from both sides to meet in the middle

is the best for me. 

Yelp, we are almost there................

just a couple of more seams, borders and

it will be off to the quilters! 

You Had Me at Mystery!

This a Mystery KAL for a semi-circular. top-down shawl, designed by  Maria Rosa Spighetti

There will be 3 clues, scheduled as follows:

March, 11 — clue 1
March, 18 — clue 2 
March, 25 — clue 3

This clues version will be free until March, 27 when the full pattern will be released.

Happy knitting!

Frida's Crochet Flower Blanket

Isn't this the prettiest flower basket you have ever seen?  I"m so in awe of this crochet work, which is the handiwork of Jane Crowfoot

What magical needlework................

Jane has designed a new Crochet Along project in association with UK based yarn company Stylecraft. Following the phenomenal success of the Lily Pond CAL project in 2015 the new project will be starting soon!

The new project is called Frida’s Flowers Blanket is inspired by Mexican Folk Art and the colourful dresses worn by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

Created in Classique Cotton on 50g balls, this blanket is a combination of 12 rich, intense shades that you will use to make Jane’s exquisite floral designs.

The project is aimed at those looking to improve their skills rather than complete beginners.

Published in 8 fortnightly installments over 4 months all the patterns will be available to download for free from the Stylecraft Web site from Tuesday 5th April

For more information, see: Stylecraft

One Lazy Knitter

I'm one lazy knitter when it comes time to put my needles back in their proper place!

I just place them in one of my container folders, until next time,

I sort through them then

Well, the other day--as I was procrastinating, I decided to sort the needles

according to size--now, isn't that a novel idea!

needles are in their proper envelope in the proper folder

until next time when I finish knitting..................