Penny For Your Thoughts

So apparently there is some sort of wedding tradition that gives the bride a shiny new penny to put in her shoe. From a wedding trivia site:

"Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue, And a silver sixpence in your shoe".

This well known little rhyme originated during Victorian times and is still commonly practiced for good luck. Traditionally, the "old" would have been the garter of a happily married woman, with the thought being that her good fortune would be passed down along with it. The "new" stood for the couple's new bright and happy future together. "Something borrowed" was usually a much valued item from the bride's family. It symbolized prosperity within the new union, but would bring that good fortune only if it was returned to the family. "Something blue" came from an ancient tradition in which the bride would wear a blue ribbon in her hair as a symbol for fidelity. Placing a silver sixpence in the bride's shoe was to ensure wealth in the couple's life. Today brides often slip a penny inside their shoe before the ceremony in place of the difficult to acquire silver sixpence. As such, the rhyme is often adapted to "....And a lucky penny in your shoe".

I'd never heard of this before. But we have a young woman in our office (let's call her Dana) whose wedding is approaching. We will be having a little party for her. And this afternoon one of the women (let's call her Dena) who is planning the party came up to me.

"Do you think," she asked, "you would be able to knit a little penny bag for Dana?"

Now I had heard of dime bags but not penny bags, so Dena had to explain the tradition to me. "We'd like to have it for the wedding shower."

"Well, sure," I said, "I think I could do that. When's the party for her?"

"Tomorrow," said Dena.

Gulp.

But I came home and sat myself down and within about 45 minutes....


A little bag for the bride's lucky penny. (Her wedding colors are autumnal, so it's not a totally inappropriate color choice. I don't have any white sock yarn.)

I think it looks like something an absent-minded fairy might have left behind her when out gathering herbs one day.

We are back from a trip to Massachusetts where I got to see my baby. And my sister-in-law came to visit and we took her to Webs. We had quite a nice time there.

In fact, I may have had a little too good a time. Pictures tomorrow, perhaps.