Lughnasadh

by Dye Mad Yarns

$6.00

Lughnasadh, or Lammas, is celebrated August 1st and is typically considered the beginning of the harvest season. It's about halfway between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. Like Beltane and Midsummer, there are some Christian festivals celebrated alongside them, with Lammas being "Loaf-mass". 

In Irish mythology, the Lughnasadh festival was said to be started by the god Lugh as a funeral feast and athletic competition in commemoration of his mother. Lughnasadh is another holiday where trial marriages (handfastings) were performed, where people could give it a go for a year and a day. 

Grain and corn are the stars of the show for this festival, but in other parts of the world, some folks offer whatever fruit is first harvested - blueberries for example. The main way to celebrate Lughnasadh is with a feast, and maybe also games (not unlike the Olympics, I guess). It is a fire festival, but fire doesn't play too much into Lughnasadh as much, probably because it's August and it IS TOO HOT FOR FIRE. 

Like other festivals, there is often a battle. Lughnasadh's battle is a struggle for the harvest, which Lugh seizing the harvest for humankind. The first of August is a time to celebrate the bounty and the harvest and what we have before moving into the darker part of the year when things may not be as bountiful. 

Our Lughnasadh yarn is representative of the colors of the harvest - gold, green, and red. The heat of the season. 

BASES:

Hattie Floof: 50g, 459 yards, 72% mohair/28% silk (lace weight)
Chester Sock: 100g, 437 yards, blend of 75% superwash merino/25% nylon
Gladys Shawl: 100g, 438 yards, single ply blend of 70% superwash merino/30% silk
Tortie Sport: 100g, 287 yards, 80% alpaca/20% silk
Minnie DK: 100g, 246 yards, 100% superwash merino wool 
Genny Worsted: 100g, 191 yards, 80% superwash merino/20% alpaca
Chubby Trevor: 115g, 136 yards, 100% superwash merino
Chunky Trevor: 100g, 76 yards, 80% superwash merino/20% nylon, single ply
Summer Fingering: 65% silk/35% linen, 115g skein, approximately 438 yards
Summer DK: 65% silk/35% linen, 115g skein, approximately 246 yards
Summer Worsted: 65% silk/35% linen, 115g skein, approximately 181 yards