Atlantis adventure test knit

What does knitting have in common with Atlantis? Not very much.

However, the boys are fascinated – as most small boys are – with volcanoes. We watched a documentary recently about the dig at Thera near Santorini, in Greece, where an eruption four times larger than the infamous Krakatoa, so large it blotted out the sun on the other side of the globe for days, ejected 60 km3 into the air, triggered the downfall of an entire civilisation, and may perhaps have been the basis of the story Plato wrote, which inspired the myth of Atlantis that is still intriguing us almost two and a half thousand years later.

Atlantis or not, archeologists in the town of Akrotiri on the island of Thera have discovered a fascinating and remarkably advanced civilisation. This was the pinnacle of the Minoan civilisation, and this event was probably it’s downfall, as Akrotiri was the main trading point between … But I’m getting carried away by history, when all I meant to say was that this pattern was inspired by the idea of the complex and intriguing people who lived on this island, painted their walls with gloriously colourful and intricate frescoes, had mysterious religious rituals. And by all the individuals who went about their day to day lives in a time so long ago as to have passed beyond verbal memory, yet has been captured like a magic time capsule by volcanic ash, a snapshot of a time we would otherwise know nothing about.

 

This flower was thought to be a central part of their religious practices. Such beautiful, elegant forms. Art Nouveau wasn’t so nouveau after all, it seems.

 

These flowers seem to have been very important to their culture – Isn’t this beautiful? This room doesn’t appear to have windows either, so this probably would have been lit by the fireplace and oil lights. Magical!

 

This blue monkey mural is pretty funky even by modern standards. I love the abstract shapes in the background too.

 

Dolphins have long been treasured by the Greeks. The sea urchins are a nice touch, softening otherwise straight lines.

 

A glimpse of a sea faring nation perched on a steep and rocky mountainside. Note the lion chasing the deer on the ridge top in the top left corner!

I wonder what everyday life was like for your average Akrotirian?

Well, after that unsolicited little history lesson, now for the reason for this post. The title tells of a test knit after all..

So here is my little tribute to Atlantis. In a shawl. Don’t ask me why.  Everything is in a shawl at the moment.

The small lace pattern is for those beautiful lilies, and the larger lace seemed suitably garlandy, or possibly wave-ish.

Where is the adventure?

Well you can have your lilies floating or underwater, in a manner of speaking.

You can use the lily lace before or after the garland lace, and you can switch between the two as often as you like until the yarn runs out. This creates the potential for many unique shawls, as the pattern created is slightly different going from large to small than it is going the other way around!

And then there is another variable too, as you can work a plain section first, and then start either large or small lace . (I had to do lots of maths, but I wrote it all down, so you don’t have to do any, I promise!)

Patterns should be ready to go out by Saturday. Anyone interested in testing is very welcome to drop by Nimble Knits and put their hand up. 🙂

 

Now I can set to work on the next collection. This one is all about light and the paradox of waves and particles. Fun stuff.

 

Happy knitting!