So weird, I just had this come up on my Facebook feed today.
One of the comments was mentioning that there might be a dispute over if knitting was being utilized in that time period which is why this explanation has not gained traction by historians. Could be a lie, I am not sure, but every time I hear the words dodecahedron I think of Critical Roll (Popular streamed D&D group of voice actors who had one campaign that involved dodecahedrons)
Yeah, it is possible its not the actual purpose at all. But I think it still applies, as thinking critically and drawing connections across disciplines is a skill nurtured by permaculture and benefits society in elegant and practical ways.
It suggests these were used with a nalbinding technique rather than a knitting technique which would fit with the era. I'd like to find a video trying to make gloves with this and nalbinding, but that's future research.