Friday the 13th and Book Swap Saturday

Did you know that there are two Friday the 13ths in 2023? The first is tomorrow, and the second is in October.

While both Friday and the number 13 have had a fairly long history of being considered "unlucky" by various European cultures, the idea that Friday the 13th is particularly unlucky actually dates back to the Victorians. Granted, Dan Brown and his novel, The DaVinci Code, popularized the idea that Friday the 13th was unlucky because of the arrest of the Knights Templar on Friday, October 13, 1307. Sure, some Knights were actually arrested on that day, but not all of them, and the idea that Fridays and the number 13 were unlucky predated them. Furthermore, the combination of "Friday the 13th" wasn't really a "thing" until the nineteenth century, culminating in the publication of a very popular novel in 1907--Friday, the Thirteenth by Robert Lawson--in which a poor stockbroker is able to tank the stockmarket, thereby causing Wall Street traders to swear off trading on Friday the 13th.

Plenty of people see Friday the 13th as lucky, actually. Take Taylor Swift, for example, who used to write the number 13 on her hand before each performance and considers 13 to be a particularly lucky number.

When I knit socks or mittens, I'll often incorporate the number 13 in the pattern--usually in the number of ribbing rows.

So, despite the ultra superstitious out there, I hope you have a nice Friday the 13th.

And, on Saturday the 14th, don't forget to stop by the store for Book Swap Saturday. Our swap box will be centrally located in the store, so you can bring a book and take a book, and browse and squish some yarn while you're here.