Beware the Ides of March

March 15. The day that Caesar was set upon by his brethren in the Senate and unceremoniously stabbed to death. The day that William Shakespeare's soothsayer so famously spoke of.

When I was a kid - and by "kid" I mean somewhere in my early teens - I was obsessed with fate and superstitions. Then, when I read Julius Caesar for school, the Ides of March took on a weird, fatalistic meaning. For a few years, I would get all freaked out as March 15th approached. Of course, nothing ever really happened but any small misfortune that day would be attributed to the poor date.

In crafting, there are all manner of superstitions. I would guess that it's because crafting has been around since the beginning of time and was generally the domain of women who, for centuries, went uneducated.

Some of my favorite crafting superstitions include:

• Don't knit your boyfriend socks or he'll walk away from you.
• Never start a sewing project on Friday because it will never be finished.
• Never hand a friend scissors (or knitting needles) as they'll cut up (or stab) the friendship.
• If you knit one of your hairs into a project it will bind the recipient of that project to you.
• It's bad luck to leave a project unfinished. The intended recipient will experience the bad luck.
• Always sew a pillow case on New Year's Day to hold the abundance of the coming year.
• It's bad luck to make baby things (knitted or sewn) before the baby is born or the mother is pregnant.
• Place a needle or pin into a piece of cloth when passing to someone, or your relationship could be ruined. 
• Cast-on for your next knitting project immediately after finishing one. It's bad luck for your needles to be empty.

Of course, if these things were actually true, most of my friends would now be my enemies, none of my projects would be completed, and my life would be filled with strife and bad luck. Fortunately, I don't believe in superstitions anymore.

Except, maybe, the Ides of March.*

- Alex

*Today I spent $74 to learn that my uninstalled ice maker was "on" and that's why the fridge was making weird noises. Then I bought the wrong faucet for the upstairs sink and had to make a second trip out and spend an extra $11 for the right one. And my dogs won't stop barking at the plumber. Yeah...I'm sure that this is all due to the fact that it's March 15.   :)