Friday 15 November 2013

Pansies and Violas

I do promise to stop with the flowers soon. It is just that they are such fun. The flower photos below are violas, from the window boxes at the front of my house. I love their cheery little faces.
 

So I have used them as inspiration for some more cosies, but this time not for phones, but for glasses. I thought they might make good Granny gifts. Using my phone cosy pattern, which is free on ravelry and Craftsy, but just knitting them a bit longer. I have also sewn in a felt lining to give them a bit more rigidity. 


So are my flowers pansies or violas? I had thought that it was simple: the little ones are violas, and the bigger ones pansies. But after a little bit of research I find the National Viola and Pansy Society say that officially a Pansy must have a blotch (that is a consolidation of the rays that forms the dark velvety face of the bloom), while a Viola may have some rays, but these should not be so thick as to form a blotch. However commercial breeding of pansies and violas has somewhat blurred this definition. Though I am also sort of right too as violas are smaller than pansies.


Did you know that the name Pansy actually comes from the French word pensee, meaning "remembrance" or "thought"; thus when a bouquet of pansies is given to you, it means, "I'm thinking of you." The French believed that pansies could make your lover think of you.

Nicknames for the pansy include heartsease, love-in-idleness, godfathers and godmothers, call-me-to-you, jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me and faces-under-the-hood. And biblically, because of its tricolor, the pansy is often considered a symbol of the Trinity, and was sometimes called herb trinity.

Pansies are steeped in folklore. Pluck one of the upper petals, and your lover's future can be foretold by counting the veins that run through it. Four veins means there's hope; seven means forever in love; eight, a fickle lover; nine, a change of heart is on the horizon; and finally 11 an early death for the love of your life. 




Gosh, this has become a very wordy post for me.


40 comments:

  1. Once again beautiful. Such a treat to see these!

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  2. Love the pansies and your phone cosies!

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  3. Wow! What beautiful flowers! Nice job.

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  4. I love pansies and violas! You did a great job on your cozies

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  5. Pansies and/or violas are some of my favorite flowers! I love how you embroidered them onto the cozies. They will make lovely gifts!

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  6. I love the project and the flowers as inspiration.

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  7. I did not know these things about pansies and violas. They sure are cheery. :-)

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  8. Lovely! The embroidered flowers are so pretty.

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  9. Whatever you call them, they're beautiful! The phone cozy is adorable! Have a great weekend, Ginny!

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  10. Beautiful indeed, both the original inspiration and your creations.

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  11. Pansies always make me think of my grandmother. I love your cosies!!

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  12. The flowers are lovely, and who knew about counting the veins. Maybe that will replace counting daisy petals -- "he loves me, he loves me not" Here's Mine

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  13. Beautiful flower shots and your creations are fun! Lovely colors all around.

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  14. Its funny Kathy mentioned who the flower reminds her of. It was my sisters favorite flower.

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  15. Lovely! You do such nice work.

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  16. Beautiful needlework and flower photos ~ no apologies needed ~ great to see the colors ~ soon winter will be hear and blacks, whites and greys will go on for awhile ~ Beautiful and creative works ~ carol, xxx

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  17. Beautiful flowers -- a favorite of mine so I loved all the little facts you gave us. Your cosies are just lovely.

    Joy's Book Blog

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  18. Lovely work and wonderful information.

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  19. The are so bright and cheery, is right, how could you not take their picture! Thank you for coming by sharing your creative photography on the Weekly Top Shot, #109!

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  20. Don't stop with the flower things. I love them.

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  21. What an interesting post. I don't think you should stop, it was fascinating.

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  22. Pansies and violas are some of my favourite annuals, and like you I thought size was the main difference. Thanks for researching it...when this rain stops, I'll go outside and check what I've actually got growing :-)

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  23. So pretty ... they were my mother-in-law's favorite flower and I cannot see one without smiling and thinking of her!

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  24. So pretty, but it's those little knitted delights on your sidebar that I find absolutely fascinating! They're amazing.
    Thanks for stopping in at Cranberry Morning. Glad you enjoyed the echinacea shot. I love them in the summertime and then that day when they were covered in frost.

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  25. Very lovely flowers and the 'off-shoots'. Wonderful craft work! Great holiday gift ideas. ;)

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  26. I love pansies as well, so bright and cheerful, rather like your cases. Keep on doing what your are doing!

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  27. Who knew that pansies had such a lot of meaning? I do love them though. Your photos are amazing and, as for the sewing, that is stunning. xx

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  28. I love pansies and violas too, but I didn't know that they were so interesting history wise. Your embroidered cosies are lovely too. Have a good week.

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  29. Oooh these are gorgeous! I agree, the perfect granny gift :)

    Interesting to hear about pansy folklore, it makes their pretty flowers even more intriguing than before x

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  30. how very pretty your pansy or viola stitching is, turns a plain case into something very pretty x

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  31. panies...violas... whatever... THEY look SUPER!! Well done!

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  32. Beautiful photography! Great space here...loving it.
    Hope to see you on my blog:)

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  33. never knew all that about pansies - really interesting, and love how the dainty little flowers inspired your gorgeous glasses cosy. Just spotted the tiny owls in a previous post - So sweet! :).

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  34. The phone cozy's are lovely, do like the flower motifs especially. Seen on Handmade harbour :D

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  35. Beautiful design. It will brighten the winter days ahead.

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  36. I love Pansies and always have them flowering somewhere in my garden - great in pots too. I love your work with them - very beautiful. Hope you have a good week.

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  37. I'm always in awe of your photography skills as you take beautiful photos. The detail in the flowers is amazing. Your embroidery pansies/violas are lovely - and thanks for the horticultural lesson. I never knew the difference between the two xx

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  38. Don't worry about showing us more flower pictures, they are stunning and your photos are so clear. I like how they inspire your work too.

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  39. I've been looking for a nice pansies design. This is cute.

    Anne xx

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