Friday 20 July 2012

Aaargh, Snaaaaaaaaaaaaake!


Introducing Billy, the Snake.

This was a Nerd Wars project, but even if it hadn't been, I think I still would have worked on him exclusively until he was finished, just because he's so cute *laughs*

I was inspired by a few different patterns, but in the end I made this one up as I went along. He's knitted with random stashed acrylic yarn, with a flexible wire inside so he can be posed...


See, ready to strike ;)

The challenge that this project came under was inspiration from a book cover, tied into a different team. I found a book with the myth of Ophiuchus, a constellation that I love, who has a snake around him. Hence, snake *laughs*

The myth of Ophiuchus is pretty cool, he was a man who turned into a healer after seeing one snake take some herbs to a sick snake. The sick snake got better, so Ophiuchus used the same herbs to heal the sick. Only, the God Zeus wasn't too happy about it and struck Ophiuchus down, to prevent humans becoming immortal like the gods. But, to honour him, he put Ophiuchus in the stars as a constellation.

This is where the image of a snake round a staff to represent healing/hospitals comes from - although it is usually called the rod of Asclepius after the Greek version of Ophiuchus. Same guy, but Ophiuchus was the Roman version (side note, the caduceus, a staff with 2 snakes around it that is sometimes used to mean hospital, is actually a symbol of commerce but is often used incorrectly - not that this bugs me or anything *laughs*)

Anyway, enough of the lecture, back to my snake ;)

To show off the snake as attributed to the myth, cunning boyfriend lent a hand (literally) and posed for me...



*laughs*

It's Friday, so you know what to do... Visit Tami'sNatural Suburbia and Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Have a great weekend :)

26 comments:

  1. Love him! I am enjoying all of the write ups for this challenge too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this! So cute! And something my kids would probably love :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loved hearing the story behind it, I never knew about the hospital symbol. He's a very cute and cunning snake, you did a great job!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Natalie--I love your snake and very much enjoyed the 'lecture'! :) It's always great to sweep the cobwebs from long held beliefs that aren't quite right.
    (Love that your BF is so 'game', too!!) XXO-

    ReplyDelete
  5. He's great and I love that you can pose him.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I do not like snakes. But he is COOL!

    ReplyDelete
  7. He's great! And awesome idea with the wire!

    ReplyDelete
  8. He's adorable. It's been a long time since I heard about Asclepius - thanks for the brush up!

    ReplyDelete
  9. oooh cool yarny snake, i love him!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Never thought snakes could be cute, but this one is!! Simply adorable :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Also on the TV show, Billy The Exterminator, he yells "aaargh snaaaake" at the beginning of the show. ;-)

    Love yours.

    ReplyDelete
  12. the wire inside is too clever! I love that you can pose him!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ah I love him! That may be one of your most awesome projects yet! Isn't some of that snake lore interesting, I read up a lot of it when I adopted a Ball Python a few years ago

    ReplyDelete
  14. Eek! He's so cool and thanks for the history lesson!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love it!! Great post too :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. He's so cute. My sister keeps asking for a draft stopper and I haven't found anything that I want to make. But I can see him being a good contender

    ReplyDelete
  17. Sssssssssmarvellous! :) (sorry, couldn't resist) x

    ReplyDelete
  18. He is a super cute snake, as far as snakes go ;) He's a great combination of colors.

    ReplyDelete
  19. This is the only kind of snake I like - not real. He's very cute.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow! He's amazing and I enjoyed the lesson too :)
    Xxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  21. Awesome! Adorable. I love that the snake is posable. If I made one I'd be singing "snaaaaaake snaaaaaake" whenever I walked past. (From that old Badger Badger meme, because the internet never forgets).

    ReplyDelete
  22. Love the snake! And the snake myth is really interesting since the emblem of our medical school includes a staff with 2 snakes, I guess they don't know their myths?

    ReplyDelete

Hi, thanks for letting me know you stopped by :D