"Ichthus"

In the time after Jesus's death, resurrection and ascension into heaven, the early Christians were persecuted, imprisoned and sometimes even executed, simply because they were believers in Jesus Christ. It still happens today in some parts of the world. Believers could not simply come right out and say that they were Christians, because they didn't know who could be trusted. They had to devise ways of letting each other know, without alerting people who would turn them in.
Someone in the early Church came up with the idea of a fish symbol. The Greek word for fish is "ichthus". Each letter (Greek letters) stands for another Greek word, the translation of which would be "Jesus Christ, God's Son, the Savior". I'm writing it out in English even though I can pronounce it in Greek, because I can't spell it and don't have Greek letters on my keyboard anyway. The early Christians would draw the shape of a fish, and if the person who saw it was a Christian, they would know what it meant.
I have chosen "Ichthus" as the name for this prayer shawl I'm designing. The "ch" is not pronounced like it typically is in English words. Think of the movie/play Fiddler on the Roof, and the song, "Le Chaim"; it's more like that. Ichthus is now about 35 inches wide at the top, and 17 inches long down the centerline. I can hardly wait until I get it finished; it's going to be so nice to wear. I'm still figuring out the idea for the edging, but it'll be a little while before I'm ready for it anyway. I apologize for the sideways picture; it was right on my computer, and I don't know why it uploaded this way.


This is the only thing I'm actually knitting at the moment, though I am in the process of putting together some other design ideas...