San Benedetto, la rondine sotto il tetto!
St. Benedict, swallows under the eaves!
Oggi e’ il mio onomastico! Tanti Auguri a me!
Today I celebrate my name day (for lack of a better denomination for this day): it is the day that the saint I am named after is celebrated in the calendar. Since this tradition does not seem to exist anywhere else, I always have a hard time explaining this to non-Italians. While I was not named Benedetta because my parents were particularly religious or fond of San Benedetto, only because they loved the name, I do like this scholarly saint, whose motto was “Ora et Labora”. And he is a pretty cool saint, the patron of all of Europe, no less!
This day also happens to coincide with the first day of Primavera, aka spring (I know, Italian spring is one day later than US spring), hence the saying about the arrival of the swallows building their nests under the eaves of the roof.
I love celebrating my name day, it’s like an extra birthday, with lots of wishes, presents, a special meal, and when I was a kid, a big party. And because of the saying that goes with it, most people knew to wish me “Buon Onomastico” on March 21, even mere acquaintances and teachers.
Since I got married, I have instructed my husband in the tradition of name days, so we all enjoy one extra day of celebration each.
I received some lovely presents, but none knitting related, as my family does not believe in encouraging any form of addiction. While I disagree on regarding my knitting any more an addiction than, say, my reading (and it just happens that I can borrow books from the library, so my reading does not affect my budget, while that can’t be said for knitting), I respect their thoughts on this and have stopped asking. Just like my mother stopped asking me to buy her duty-free cigarettes….
Anyway, I am nearly finished on my Kiri, I just need to seam it and make the frilly edge on the V-neck edges.
The sweater is very plain, all blue stocking stitch, with shaping. This is just the detail at the cuff, a double edge of frills. Pretty, no?
The color here is very “wrong”; in reality the blue is much darker. Hopefully I’ll be able to take a truer picture once is completed.
Buona Primavera a tutti!
Oggi e’ il mio onomastico! Tanti Auguri a me!
Today I celebrate my name day (for lack of a better denomination for this day): it is the day that the saint I am named after is celebrated in the calendar. Since this tradition does not seem to exist anywhere else, I always have a hard time explaining this to non-Italians. While I was not named Benedetta because my parents were particularly religious or fond of San Benedetto, only because they loved the name, I do like this scholarly saint, whose motto was “Ora et Labora”. And he is a pretty cool saint, the patron of all of Europe, no less!
This day also happens to coincide with the first day of Primavera, aka spring (I know, Italian spring is one day later than US spring), hence the saying about the arrival of the swallows building their nests under the eaves of the roof.
I love celebrating my name day, it’s like an extra birthday, with lots of wishes, presents, a special meal, and when I was a kid, a big party. And because of the saying that goes with it, most people knew to wish me “Buon Onomastico” on March 21, even mere acquaintances and teachers.
Since I got married, I have instructed my husband in the tradition of name days, so we all enjoy one extra day of celebration each.
I received some lovely presents, but none knitting related, as my family does not believe in encouraging any form of addiction. While I disagree on regarding my knitting any more an addiction than, say, my reading (and it just happens that I can borrow books from the library, so my reading does not affect my budget, while that can’t be said for knitting), I respect their thoughts on this and have stopped asking. Just like my mother stopped asking me to buy her duty-free cigarettes….
Anyway, I am nearly finished on my Kiri, I just need to seam it and make the frilly edge on the V-neck edges.
The sweater is very plain, all blue stocking stitch, with shaping. This is just the detail at the cuff, a double edge of frills. Pretty, no?
The color here is very “wrong”; in reality the blue is much darker. Hopefully I’ll be able to take a truer picture once is completed.
Buona Primavera a tutti!
posted by benedetta at 7:03 PM
6 Comments:
Buon onomastico a Benedetta!!
The sweater looks fantastic. Love the color, and the double ruffle. Can't wait to see what it looks like on you.
Happy saint's day ! Russians also celebrate their saints day.To my Russian grandmother her sait's day was more important than her birthday.Strangely it's something we,as a family,have never bothered with.Were my parents being rebellious I wonder ?!
Beautiful ruffly cuff.
You can never have too many days to celebrate! Happy Day to you and for cryin' out loud - go buy some yarn. ;)
The Greeks say Chronia Polla (Many Years) and also observe name days. The ruffles are beautiful. Hope you post a picture of yourself wearing the completed sweater.
Un po' tardi ma ... Augurissimi per il onomastico! Ogni San Valentino (il mio onomastico) mi ricordo questa parola, e vorrei spiegare cos'e'. Purtroppo qui, negli Usa, non importa nient'altro che spendere un sacco su regali. Va beh, gli santi non mi importano tanto a me, ma e' una bella tradizione, no?
Valentina (blogger non mi lascia entrare. Lo fa spesso. www.memoija.com)
I think it was mostly Catholics who named their children after Saints and therefore had a "name day" that was different from the birthday anniversary. My ex was born on St. Lucy's day... joked that he might have been Lucifer. I should have paid attention. Middle name was Felix though, so that was auspicious. I think Swedes have a name day custom as I remember a beloved childhood read called The Golden Name Day.
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