12 Days of Christmas- 31st December- Cygnus

If I have worked my magic on the website then the spare Merino & Silk fibre from each 12 Days of Christmas parcel will be going in the online shop each day. This is the same base as all the other Superfine Merino & Silk fibre that's available, so you can mix and match with any other colour that's in stock, and also benefit from the same offer of "Buy any 2 and get the 3rd half price".
The whole range of fibre is available here.

The fibre this year has a theme of the Stars. In the northern hemisphere, at this darkest time of the year starlight can feel magical. Humanity has always looked to the heavens, and created stories around the patterns that they can see from these glowing balls of gas so far away from our own little planet.

If you fancy trying to find the stars linked to the fibre then there are some great apps that use the camera in your phone, assisted reality, and the internal compass to help you identify where to look.

Cygnus the swan is a constellation with truly ancient origins. Long identified as a bird, it may well be the constellation show in  the Babylonian Clay tablet depicting the map of the world from around 600 BCE. 

The right triangular segment is labelled "Beyond the flight of birds" and this may refer to the constellation we call Cygnus as a way of orientating the map.
There are many myths linked to this constellation, we owe the name to the Romans, who adopted Greek mythology to explain the name, The Greeks had called it Ornis, meaning Bird. 
Cycnus, son of Poseidon, was friends with Phaethon (mortal son of Helios the Sun God). Phaethon persuaded is father to let him drive his  Sun chariot across the skies. Alas, the four horses that drew the chariot were not familiar with Phaeton and they soon ran wild. Phaeton let go with the reins and the horses ran off, running wild through the heavens, and perilously close to Earth, causing the land and sky to burst in to flames. Zeus averted disaster, and sent down lightning bolts to correct the course of the chariot, but by then it was too late for Phaeton. He fell to Earth, landing in the river Eridanus. Cygnus was distraught and repeatedly tried to retrieve his friends body, Zeus was so moved by this act of devotion he transformed Cycnus in to a swan, and gave him a spot in the heavens to forever look down on the remains of his beloved Phaethon. 
We can still see the path of Phaethon's doomed ride, the Cygnus rift is visible across the Milky Way.