Blue Monday Knitting

Today's Blue Monday post starts as a continuation of yesterday's story.

I posted yesterday about my woes with poorly written directions for a knitting project (here). This made me remember a story from Greek mythology, but I could not remember the exact details. All that I could recall from high school (more than a few decades ago) was that a woman delayed an unwanted marriage by telling her suitor(s) that she had to finish stitching a garment before she married. This is an odd thing to google, especially when I mistakenly thought it was a wedding garment she was working on. On my umpteenth search, I found my answer.

"Penelope is a person in Greek mythology. She is the wife of Odysseus of Ithaca, and mother of Telemachos. She became a symbol for the faithful wife. When her husband Odysseus was on his long journey home, many people thought he was dead. Because of this, many suitors came who wanted to marry Penelope because they would own her land and wealth and become king of Ithaca. Penelope thinks of several tricks so that she does not have to marry one of the suitors. One trick is that she tells the suitors that she will first weave a cloth for the funeral of Odysseus' father (Laertes), and when she was finished she would marry one of the suitors. Every night, out of view of the suitors, she undoes her weaving so that she never finishes it. When Odysseus finally returns after twenty years, he and his son Telemachos kill the suitors."

Here is John Williams Waterhouse's depiction of Penelope and the suitors.

Fortunately, no take-overs of land and wealth, no long from home husband, and no murders are involved in my tale. I do have dark hair and my hobby does seem to take over my living space as does Penelope's, but the comparison ends there.

Here is my top so far. It doesn't look like much yet, but it is blue. Hopefully I am done undoing my stitches and unlike Penelope, I will get this project finished!

Happy Blue Monday everyone! For more information about this event and to see who else is participating, please visit host Smiling Sally by clicking on the blue jay logo.