2015 Geek-A-Long: Bunsen and Beaker

Muppet Labs, where the future is being made today.

If I had it my way, the 2016 Geek-A-Long blanket would feature only Muppets. I’m not joking. I tried to convince Megan-Anne that it would be perfect for 2015, but she said it was too narrow of a scope for the GAL’s sophomore year. I humbly disagreed, but was ultimately overthrown as you can tell. She promised me that one day — in the very distant future, I’ll bet — we would do a Muppets GAL blanket.

I will have my day.

My deep love of the Muppets aside, (When I married Mr. Cappuccino, I walked down the aisle to a string quartet’s rendition of the Rainbow Connection.), we can’t have a Mad Scientist themed GAL blanket without Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker.

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew PHD is a scientist, inventor, and founder of Muppet Labs. His inventions have changed the way we live our lives today. I mean, when I wake up in the middle of the night and think, “Oh, goodness — gasp — is there a gorilla in here?” I know there isn’t, because I have a gorilla detector.

Bunsen also brought us such life altering inventions as the Magnetic Carrots, Edible Paperclips, Nuclear Shaver, and Elevator Shoes. He also spent time working at CERN with the Large Hadron Collider in 2011 with his assistant Beaker. And he passive aggressively graciously sent a congratulatory letter to the Mars Rover Mission team in 2004 when they beat him to landing on Mars.

Of course, when speaking of Bunsen, we must also pay homage to his long-suffering assistant Beaker. The sweet and extremely anxious Beaker is often used as Muppet Labs very own lab rat. But, Beaker is more than a stream of meeps and comic mishaps. He’s also an artist. From an Ode to Joy to Bohemian Rhapsody and Ringing of the Bells, he shows us how much feeling one meep can convey.

Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Bunsen and Beaker pattern here. Instructions for both knit and crochet are listed in the pattern. When you’re finished making it, don’t forget to tweet or instagram your squares at me @jac_attacking or Megan-Anne @Doctor_Llama with the hashtag #geekalong!

https://instagram.com/p/0gX8z_ny4p/?taken-by=jac_attacking

If you’re having trouble with double-sided knitting, we have a how-to video here and a tutorial on crochet here. Want to hang out with other people making the blanket? You can find moral support in the Geek-A-Long group on Ravelry here.

~ Jac
“Now, Beaker, you forgot the beaker. Get the beaker, Beaker.”

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