As a kid I was terrified of octopuses. Maybe I had seen a bad sci-fi movie where the alien monster looked like a pulsating glowing octopus gone wrong; or maybe it was an even worse underwater adventure flick with a gigantic, jerky, gooey octopus pulling some diver to his death. Maybe it was just all those wiggly tentacles and alien looking eyes. And why do goats have those same freaky eyes – ugh! Regardless, as a child I remember a recurring nightmare of being chased by an octopus on a motorcycle. Never found a dream interpretation for that one! It was a silly childhood fear. Its not like I had ever seen a real octopus or was ever likely to living in the middle of Ontario. So no more bad dreams and just stay away from octopus and motorcycles. Done.
But then one day I did get to see an octopus in real life on a beach in Greece. I was shocked at how small and cute and fragile it seemed, pulling itself along the sandy bottom of the shoreline, tossed back and forth by the waves. Suddenly I was seeing octopuses everywhere; on t-shirts, piled on ice in market stalls, on ancient pottery, bad tattoos and old maps. I even had some for dinner one night at a beach café and it was delicious.
A few years later I actually got to meet an Octopus named Victoria at the Ucluelet Aquarium on Vancouver Island. It was… I won’t say life changing, but definitely a perception altering experience. The aquarium is small, and we were there very early so had the place to ourselves. She was beautiful and shy, but also curious as she came out of her hiding spot to greet us, changing her colour from coral and rock camouflage to “I’m letting you see me”. She slowly and softly reached out with a tentacle to hold my finger. I was hooked. And feeling tremendously guilty for ever eating her distant cousins. I was extra pleased to learn that the aquarium only holds their specimens for a certain amount of time before releasing them back to the ocean. Amazing!
So the Kraken mitten design is my small tribute to these mesmerizing sea creatures. And I promise never to knowingly eat any of you again, even if you are really tasty.
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