Sailing To Byzantium

I'm proud to announce the release of Sailing To Byzantium, an ebook collection of six hand knitting designs inspired by the art and architecture of ancient Constantinople.

When Malabrigo Yarn invited me to be part of their Freelance Pattern Project for August, I was of course delighted - my favorite yarns! I was assigned the theme of Old Architecture, and the stoney colors of older buildings. A bit of research lead one thing to another, and I found myself enthralled by the turbulent history and striking architecture of Byzantium.

For over 1000 years, the Byzantine Empire stood as a symbol of Christian power in the eastern half of what had once been the Roman Empire, symbolizing a final link to the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans.

Renamed Constantinople in 330 AD by Constantine I, the ancient city of Byzantium remained a center of wealth and power despite its fall to the western knights of the Fourth Crusade in 1203. The future of the city changed forever in 1453, when it was besieged by Sultan Mehmet II and the Ottoman Turks, overrun, and reborn as Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

A city of ancient Roman stonework, early Christian domes, towering Islamic minarets and intricate Ottoman tile and mosaics, Byzantium now stands for a dream of splendor and beauty straddling Europe and Asia Minor.

Byzantine architecture is notable for its stacked shapes; minarets towering over domes, above arches and blocks. The repeating geometric motifs create a strong visual effect, in warm tones of sandstone, clay, stone and lead. The geometry is enhanced by decorative elements of repeating carved mosaics and tiles, often in warm reds and bright azure.

Sailing To Byzantium is also a poem by William Butler Yeats, which represents the metaphorical journey of a man pursuing his own version of eternal life as well as his conception of paradise.
Literature, Art, Architecture and Yarn . . .

Sailing To Byzantium includes three slipstitch colorwork accessories, the Sofya Cowl:

Minaret Hat:

and Lattice Mittens:

Also the Mosaic Socks, knit top-down with heel flap and gusset:

And two shawls, the crescent Selimiye:

and the sideways Iznik:

See more pictures on Ravelry, where they're available individually, and as the collection.