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23.4.14

St George's Day egg cosy

I'm on a bit of a roll with my Saint's Day cosies. Lovely feedback about the Leprechaun last month, so, thought I'd have a crack at St George...

and seeing how many egg puns I can get in a post…

St George's Day egg cosy
St Patrick's Day egg cosy

I crocheted the head and the egg cosy body for a good fit - the other bits are knitted because I'm a little more confident about my knitting abilities. The sword is a covered cocktail stick (point cut off!)

Have to admit I had to look up when St George's Day was, and it seems I'm not alone - apparently two thirds of us don't know the date. Probably because there's no national holiday - sure we'd all know it if we got a day off, like Scotland and Ireland.

A few other facts about the patron saint of England found out along the way:

He wasn't English.

Born in what's now Turkey in the third century, he became a Roman soldier and was eventually imprisoned, tortured and executed for protesting against the treatment of Christians.

St George has been the patron saint of England since the Middle Ages because he represents the traditional English ideals of honour, bravery and gallantry.

The myth of him slaying a dragon and saving the princess symbolises good driving away evil. In medieval mythology, the devil was depicted as a dragon.

Other myths about St George include: surviving being boiled alive in molten lead, forced to swallow poison and crushed between two spiked wheels before finally being beheaded.

By the by, Shakespeare's birthday is said to be on the 23rd April too.

So, time to celebrate, maybe with an egg? (possibly chocolate?) …if you're English that is, which I'm not. Anyway my 9 year old wants St George, which is fine seeing as he's more English than me. And he's my only egg eater.

Now I just need to work out how to knit a kilt…