Woven using the Antarctic tartan design, these 100% pure lambswool blankets are lightweight, soft and warm. Measuring 180 x 142cm with the fringing, these have been exclusively woven for UKAHT by Lochcarron of Scotland, and can be used as a blanket indoors or a picnic rug or blanket outdoors.
Designed by Rosalind Jones to help raise funds for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) Rosalind created an Antarctic tartan which encapsulates the colours and feelings of Antarctica.
The Antarctic tartan is fresh and vibrant with each thread picking up a different aspect of the great white continent: white represents the ice, ice flows, and the edge of the Antarctic Ocean; grey the out cropping rocks, seals and birds; orange lichen, Emperor and King penguin (head) plumage with yellow also reflecting the penguins plumage and the summer midnight sun;black and white together depict penguins and whales; pale blue represents crevasses in the ice and shallow blue icy waters on the ice shelves, whilst dark midnight blue represents the deep Antarctic Ocean and the darkness of the Antarctic winter.
The actual design is based upon the Antarctic's geography:the light square of white at the edge of the sett represents the light of the Antarctic summer on the ice-covered continent. This is quartered by threads of pale blue depicting the zero / 360, 90, 180, and 270 lines of longitude. The point where they cross equals the South Pole. Two bands of grey surrounding the white heart depicts nunataks, mountain ranges, and exposed coastal rocks. You get a visual sense of Antarctica's coast life forms in the colours that follow in the sett, orange, yellow, black and white, epitomise the wealth of animal life on land and in the seas with the orange of the lichens encrusting the rocks. Surrounding the land, pale blue and white paint the cold ice shelves whilst the outside is edged by bands of midnight blue for the ocean deeps and dark winters. Each sett is separated by a thin band of white that represents the edge of Antarctica. Where these cross, the Southern Cross is depicted. This viewed diagonally also represents the Scottish saltire, tribute that 2001 is the centenary of Scott's first expedition to the Antarctic in 1901.
UKAHT has developed a stunning range of products all of which are manufactured in Scotland by Lochcarron of Scotland. With a heritage dating back to 1892, Lochcarron of Scotland is the world’s leading manufacturer of tartan. Proudly made in Scotland by skilled craftsmen and women who design, dye, warp, weave, mend and tailor our Scottish tartans and textiles. Lochcarron champions traditional tartan fabric manufacturing.