Our daughters wedding last year (June 2001) had to be a "non-denominational" wedding due to the fact that she was marrying into a (by default) Xtian family. By default I mean they don't really practice, except for the holidays. I think we all have this type as family members and friends - they are the ones who never really decided on a religion. They just took the "default" approach to their spirituality. Gotta love ‘em! LOL

Anyway, it is a part of our tradition to have Thorr's Hammer placed on the lap of the bride. This blesses the marriage and is used for fertility. I didn't want to cause any problems as weddings can be so stressful, so I ponder and pondered, and finally came up with an idea to get one of our traditional ways into this event. Here is the blanket I made for their wedding night:

I may have been a little inspired by a movie I watched years ago. I don't remember the name - The wedding quilt or something to that effect.

The technique I used is called "Swedish Weave" Not to be confuse with the Swedish Weave that is actually weaving on a loom. The cloth is called monks cloth. You can get it online, at Ben Franklin's or even at Wal Mart! If you look close, you will see that this is an open weave fabric. It has "floats" You weave with yarn into the floats. Never, ever does the yarn come through to the back of the cloth, unlike cross stitch or some other embroidery techniques.

The fluer de lis pattern that surrounds it is to honor the mother-in-laws heritage. Years back when our daughter was dating her husband, he mentioned that on his mother's side they have French. He was very pleased with this. I didn't have the heart to say that his French may indeed involve a little Viking blood :-)!

This blanket ended up becoming more than a way of involving our tradition. It became a way for me to let my grandchildren, and all that followed, know where they come from. When a woman marries, she take the husbands name. Sometimes it feels as though all of her previous life and where she came from is *lost. I have talked with other women, and they feel it too. This strange feeling that comes over you after your daughter is married - you can feel a shift in loyalty (for lack of a better word). It proves not to be true in realty, because that is when they need you the most. It is when you go from being THE PARENT to being this wise person - lol.

Oh, did I mention that we will be grandparents this July? :-)