Alison Atkin
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alisonatkin.bsky.social
Alison Atkin
@alisonatkin.bsky.social
1.4K followers 540 following 2.3K posts
Artist. Osteoarchaeologist. Canadian. Doing creative things with heritage in the NW (UK). Multi-passionate person. Can expect knitting, gardening, ttrpg, nerdery, and occasional hamster content. she/her
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Reposted by Alison Atkin
literaturegeek.bsky.social
I got one of the wood lasercut blocks of @queermedieval.bsky.social's to print better: "We can be soft & brave / silly & right" and "hope comes from us" #DHmakes
Photo of a letterpress print on cream paper with bright green ink. It says "we can be / SOFT & BRAVE / SiLLY & RIGHT" over an image printed using a lasercut wood block made from @queermedieval.bsky.social's drawing of the Portland Frog standing up to evil government agents. Photo of a letterpress print on white paper with bright green ink. It says "HOPE comes from us." over an image printed using a lasercut wood block made from @queermedieval.bsky.social's drawing of the Portland Frog standing up to evil government agents. Photo of a letterpress press bed with a print at one end on white paper with bright green ink. It says "HOPE comes from us." over an image printed using a lasercut wood block made from @queermedieval.bsky.social's drawing of the Portland Frog standing up to evil government agents. At the other end of the press you can see the rollers and wood type that made the print inked in green. Closeup photo of a letterpress print on cream paper with bright green ink. It shows an image printed using a lasercut wood block made from @queermedieval.bsky.social's drawing of the Portland Frog standing up to evil government agents.
November 10, 2025 at 10:01 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
nature is wild
bealeiderman.bsky.social Bea Leiderman @bealeiderman.bsky.social · 17h
Diminutive fairy wombat poop. Tiny cubes under 2mm on each side.

These are egg sacs made by a spider in the family Theridiosomatidae.

They made yesterday’s hike special. Finding something I’ve never seen before is such a thrill.

🌱 #nature #macro #spider
Tiny pink and cream colored cube under 2mm stuck to the surface of a leaf. There were several, scattered around randomly, but the photo is cropped to show the one that was in best focus. The second picture shows a bit of my thumbnail in the corner, with sparkly nail polish. Tiny pink and cream colored cube under 2mm stuck to the surface of a leaf. There were several, scattered around randomly, but the photo is cropped to show the one that was in best focus. The second picture shows a bit of my thumbnail in the corner, with sparkly nail polish.
November 10, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
joshuaraclaw.com
Life is extremely kiki right now and I would really like it to be just a little more bouba
November 10, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
anjalikdayal.bsky.social
look I know being an engaged citizen IS the work of democracy but it is also the work of elected officials not to create situations where everyone has to be mobilized all the time to prevent them from allowing some kind of Dickensian horror on a Sunday night while you're in between loads of laundry
November 9, 2025 at 11:37 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
honestly, so rude of mental and physical health to be interlinked
November 9, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
terrymatz.bsky.social
X-rays were discovered on this day November 8 in 1895, by physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, allowing us to see inside the human body.
🧶 This free knitting pattern for X-Ray Mittens or Gloves designed by Marjukka Vuorisalo is on my fun handwear post
intheloopknitting.com/fun-mitten-a...
An X-ray picture of a human hand showing the skeleton of the human hand. On top of the X-ray are a mitten with a detailed design of the bones in the hand and glove with the same design. Knit by Marjukka Vuorisalo.
November 8, 2025 at 4:15 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
I live in hope that one year, in the future, I won't feel like sharing this piece of writing.
alisonatkin.bsky.social Alison Atkin @alisonatkin.bsky.social · Nov 10
After his career as a jazz musician, Spike Hughes was a composer, journalist, and broadcaster. While working, he covered the ceremony at the Cenotaph for much of the 1930s. I came across his work while researching something else entirely, but I wanted to share this, from 1938.
Saturday, November 12 1938 This time I did not go.. By Spike Hughes A FEW doors away from where I live there is a big block of buildings. Its inhabitants spend their lives in wheeled chairs. They sit out in the sun by the gates. Some of them don't see the sun because they're blind. None of them has any legs that he can walk on. I bought my poppy yesterday, because I know some of the men it helps. They are the men in the wheeled chairs. I bought my poppy, but I stayed at home all morning. During recent years I have gone to the Cenotaph on Armistice Day, watched the ceremony from the roof of the Ministry of Labour and come back to the office to write about it. This year I preferred to be alone. I know the Cenotaph ceremony by heart-the clockwork precision of the whole affair, the sombre row of Cabinet Ministers, the sad tunes played by the pipers, the pigeons that swirl over the roof tops when the maroons are fired, the striking of Big Ben. SOMETIMES there is a different king to lay his wreath, and there are new faces among the Cabinet Ministers. But it doesn't vary very much. It is an impressive ceremony, for the British have a great gift of ceremonial. The British also have a great gift for forgetting the origin of their ceremonies. They have forgotten what that Two Minutes' Silence is for. What was once a spontaneous tribute, a nation's gesture of determination that there should be no more war, has become an annual habit. There are 525,600 minutes in every year. For two of those minutes we stop work and are silent. THE traffic is still and we honour the Glorious Dead. It's the only chance they get, these Glorious Dead. For as soon as the maroon is fired again we go back to work, building such machines as twenty years ago transformed a million men from the Obscure Living into the Glorious Dead. What a tremendous, ironic thought it is: that the only time there is silence in an armament factory is for two minutes, when we remember the men killed by the very kind of things we are making! What a nice backhanded tribute to pay that million! I didn't go to the Cenotaph yesterday because I consider that two minutes' reflection in 525,600 is a shamefully bad average. I didn't go because, though a nation may still honour its dead, it no longer honours the ideal for which these dead fought. I didn't go to the Cenotaph because to mourn the Glorious Dead and to forget why they died is bitter hypocrisy. I didn't go because of what happened last year. A poor lunatic " broke the silence," and the crowd shouted " Lynch him! " He had disturbed one form of mass-hysteria and incited another.. He had chosen the wrong moment to speak what should have been in every one's hearts: that you cannot honour the dead one moment and build more lethal machines the next. One or other of these acts is insincere. I leave it to your conscience which. Yet in Parliament afterwards a Minister of the Crown stated that the man was " obviously suffering from illusions." It was the story of the Emperor's Clothes all over again. No. I shall go to the Cenotaph again only when November 11 ceases to be Armistice Day. Even the word " Armistice " is not enough. It means a " short truce." Nothing permanent, you see. Heaven knows peace has not been a permanent state of affairs. BUT if every November 11 were made the climax of our year, if we were determined that the day and its observance were sacred, that there should never be war between one November 11 and the next, then I should believe in that Two Minutes' Silence again. That would be the surest way to honour the dead. They would have preferred it that way.
November 9, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
mirandakeeling.com
Your replies are so lovely! Let’s collect any new ones here: #handwriteyourpost
November 8, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
bethanyaelliott.bsky.social
I made a “how do you do, fellow kids?” joke to someone in their mid 20s who, it turns out, was too young to have heard of that meme.

So “how do you do, fellow kids?” is now an example of “how do you do, fellow kids?”
November 7, 2025 at 5:28 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
I just picked vine ripened tomatoes on Nov 8th! I left the plants in the greenhouse to die back after picking the last big glut and apparently they've just been carrying on!
November 8, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
livrunsfast.bsky.social
It’s been a minute, but What’s On Your Needles? Week 67 of #ShowMeYourKnits; I wanna see WIPs 🚧, to-be-finished 🪡, maybe even the Naughty Basket™️.
Loving it? Not sure? Need a boost to finish? Let’s see ‘em! 🧶

I’m having a reckoning this week 😳: 3 jumpers, 5 pairs 🧦, 2 hats, 1 shawl, 1 👶, 1🧣!
A messy pile of in progress knits. Grey jumper, cream jumper, olive hood, stripey shawl, stripey hat, stripey baby pants, 5 different socks without mates, a little scarf. And their associated balls of unknit yarn.
November 8, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
queerlective.bsky.social
Calling all zinesters! Join us on December 15 from 6-9PM for a workshop by April Landry from @lunamothzinefest.bsky.social. In this workshop, you'll:

✨ Learn what a zine is & the basics of zine creation
✨ Make your own zine to take home with you!

Register at www.bit.ly/nhzines
November 7, 2025 at 8:01 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
finding out bsky is automatically hiding all 'rude' posts from my feed and yet somehow I still see every single @jcsalterego.bsky.social post
astridoverthere.bsky.social I said abolish and I fucking meant it @astridoverthere.bsky.social · 4d
Wondering why no one likes your posts anymore, even among your friends? It's because @jay.bsky.team and team have decided to hide a huge amount of content from all of our feeds by default.

Here's how to turn it off.

First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
Screenshot of the top of a Bsky feed, with a red circle around the hamburger menu in the top left.
November 7, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
londonmedievalsoc.bsky.social
Please join us on 22 November to discuss Women and Knowledge. We cannot wait to listen to and engage with all presentations 😁

This event is free to attend, but prior registration is required through this link: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Thank you! We look forward to seeing you there!
October 30, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
gshowitt.bsky.social
just couldn't stop myself. one month off. one month off after ten years and then I have to start writing dumb shitpost games
ONE COURSE ULTIMATE MURDER MYSTERY DINNER You and your classy friends have gathered at the palatial manor of Shelby Deville, your classiest and wealthiest friend. As you sit down to eat dinner, two terrible truths are revealed to you: - They’re only serving one course. - They’re... dead!
November 7, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
drnwillburger.bsky.social
Today, a friend involved in the Esna restoration project has shared with me his latest stunning photos of the restored ceiling and columns of the Temple of Khnum in Esna, Upper #Egypt. During a multi-year restoration project, the dirt and soot that had obscured the ...🧵1/3

📷 D. v. Recklinghausen
🏺
Interior view of the building showing massive stone columns with detailed carvings and colorful hieroglyphs as well as the ceiling. The columns are shaped like lotus or papyrus plants and are closely spaced, supporting a decorated ceiling. 📷 Daniel von Recklinghausen
November 7, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
today's niche #foodhist query - can anyone recommend a book/chapter/article on the history of sugar that covers PRE-COLONIAL use, e.g. in country of origin Papuan use etc. (We don't have a copy of Abbot's Bittersweet in the uni library & I can't figure out if she covers it eno' to warrant an ILL) 🗃️
November 7, 2025 at 9:38 AM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
having a chronic pain that you have become accustomed to should inure you to all other pain

I am quite over this new pain and it's only been a month

my chronic pain laughs in the face of one month and yet...
November 6, 2025 at 4:13 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
I've done this! It works! Even if you think, but my library is woefully underfunded... A lot of time they have pots of money ring-fenced specifically for new books/resources and if it doesn't get spent on that, it gets spent on nothing. So it's still worth asking!
maggiestiefvater.bsky.social Maggie Stiefvater @maggiestiefvater.bsky.social · 6d
HOT LIBRARY INTEL: you can ask your library to purchase specific titles for their collection, usually right through the library's website.

Librarians can't know every single new title, nor can they mind-read what their patrons might want to check out. Give it a shot!
November 6, 2025 at 12:44 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
Fantastic video from swanmervi on Instagram: www.instagram.com/reel/DQe-Z-S... of a recreated Finnish Iron Age grave. I love projects and visualisations like this. They're so good at humanising the past.
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November 6, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
saltzman.bsky.social
Would everyone please send me your favorite art, literature, etc. about or mentioning chickens I need it for a thing THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
November 6, 2025 at 5:11 AM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
can't wait to see the ppms in the morning
November 5, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
irishashyt.bsky.social
If there was an award for the most random archaeology-themed niche Christmas ornaments, I might just have a chance of winning.

This is your regular reminder that I can also craft in response to your suggestions, so tell me what archaeology gifts don’t yet exist but should!

tephraarts.etsy.com
Brown textured circle with trowel and female figurine Three round ornaments with angular bird Many red circles with pair of skeletons Pair of pillar shaped tan ornaments with animal figures
November 5, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Alison Atkin
nisreenalwan.bsky.social
I think this constant push for immigrants to feel & act ‘grateful’ is so insidious. Let’s change the narrative. Migration is a normal part of human behaviour, not a charity case. If you’re doing your best to do your best, you don’t need to do even more to be accepted. It’s your right to be accepted.
November 4, 2025 at 6:55 PM
alisonatkin.bsky.social
Isn't this below the London Living Wage? Like, every time I see a heritage job at a national museum I am so disappointed by the salaries on offer. It's shocking. Never mind the amount of expertise, education, and experience they expect you to have acquired in order to do the job for it too.
November 5, 2025 at 11:32 AM