Tuesday, October 30, 2012

What is Halloween? And how did this originate?


              

What is Halloween? 


And how did this originate?   




Halloween, one of the world's oldest holidays, 
is still celebrated today in a number of countries around the globe. 

The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church.
 It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. 
November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), 
is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints
The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's 
by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine.



In Mexico and other Latin American countries, 
Día de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead—
honors deceased loved ones and ancestors. 




In countries such as Ireland, Canada and the United States, 
adults and children alike revel in the popular Halloween holiday, 
which derived from ancient festivals and religious rituals.
Traditions include costume parties, trick-or-treating, pranks and games.




In Ireland, where Halloween originated, the day is still celebrated much 
as it is in the United States. In rural areas, bonfires are lit as they were 
in the days of the Celts, and all over the country, children get dressed up 
in costumes and spend the evening "trick-or-treating" in their neighborhoods.



Although it is unknown precisely where and when the phrase “trick or treat” was coined, 
the custom had been firmly established in American popular culture by 1951, 
when trick-or-treating was depicted in the Peanuts comic strip. 
In 1952, Disney produced a cartoon called “Trick or Treat” 
featuring Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie.




The custom of trick-or-treat is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, 
but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. 

On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village
 begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. 
The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. 

At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, 
and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.



The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore. 
As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. 


Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, 

trapping the devil up the tree. 
Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again,
 he would promise to let him down the tree.


According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven 

because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell 
because he had tricked the devil. 
Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. 
The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

Monday, October 15, 2012

It is getting colder each day.


It is getting colder each day.

Winter scarfs, caps, hats and gloves, are really an essencial part of our cold time wardrobe.

The uniqueness of every individual hand made item is what's gives it a value. 
In a world that mass produces everything, everytime we make an item by hand, 
we are making one of a kind; we never can make two identical ones.
 I love to tell people that the hat or scarf I'm wearing, 
and 
the hat my grandson is wearing  were custom-made for me.

 Winter hat sets with matching scarf and gloves 
are essential part of the wardrobe in the cold time.  




All scarves can provide warmth; 
knitted and crocheted scarves are casual and sporty, 
bulkier creations, like the cable-knit types, are very popular this time .





 Scarfs come in many size and shapes... 
Infinity scarfs, cowls, scarflettes, long skinny scarfs, buttoned scarfs, 
bulky cowls, moebius, circular scarfs etc.















 









































Caps are popular among men,  and women

the most commonly seen types are baseball, truck-driver and newsboy caps. 


 








Beanies, dreadlocks and slouchy are unisex,












 and for women, 
the most popular are berets, cloches, ponytail hats, crocheted caps and fur hats. 
Ear flaps, are really popular this winter  













Gloves...you can name them fingerless gloves, texting gloves, 
writting gloves, reading gloves, mittens, gautletts, wristlets, wristers,
 wrist warmers, hand warmers, driving gloves... 
They will help to protect your hands form the cold, 
yet let you carry on active lifestyle during winter months. 














You can see all the different items ToppyToppy offers to you here

 For custom orders, please contact me!
They can be made in any color and size as you request.


ToppyToppyKnits