2017 Geek-A-Long: Squirrel Girl

Welcome to the beginning of the fourth annual Geek-A-Long! The past three years were amazing. We knitted and crocheted our way through our favorite fandoms, scientists, and video games. We’ve developed a community of like-minded crafting nerds in the GAL Ravelry group and we’ve raised $6,642 for Child’s Play Charity! This year, Megan-Anne (DrLlama) and I are ready to take this party to a whole new level.

Before I get into the first afghan square for 2017, let’s do a quick recap for those of you who have been buried underneath the weight of Christmas/Hanukkah knitting for the past month.

The 2017 Geek-A-Long in a Nutshell*

*Pun intended.

  1. The theme is Marvel vs. DC. Every week, we’ll be featuring a beloved superhero, some of which you voted for.
  2. This year we recommend that you use our brand new hand-dyed beauties, Geek-A-Long Yarn. For every skein you purchase, we’ll donate $1 to Child’s Play Charity. Learn more about our commitment to giving back here.
  3. Monday Flash Sales: For 24 hours, we’ll have “Invisible Jet” and the complementing variegated colorway for the upcoming square available at half the usual price!
  4. While you’re here on Mondays to find out what the next colors are, our lab assistant and resident doodler, Alena, will have a webcomic for you that has a clue for what the upcoming square will be.
  5. Different charts for crochets and knitters! When you download your patterns, you’ll notice that there are two charts now. One is for our crocheters, who have more square stitches, and the other is for our double sided knitters.
  6. For more information, check out the GAL overview page here or mosey on over to the FAQ.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDTzw2LHyyo/?taken-by=jac_attacking

Alright, down to business.

When we let you guys loose in the Fight For Your Fandom thread on Ravelry, we knew there was a likelihood that you guys would nominate superheroes the Lattes & Llamas team already chose for the blanket. We’re all in the same geeky boat after all. But, it’s always exciting to see that everyone loves my girl Doreen as much as I do!

Bragging rights go out to Knitting4funz this week for nominating Squirrel Girl:

I nominate Squirrel Girl!! (AKA Doreen Green) She has defeated Dr. Doom, M.O.D.O.K., Deadpool, Wolverine, and I think some others on-panel, and others have been mentioned (though not shown). She’s also saved the world from Galactus by befriending him and convincing him to leave Earth alone, and to go eat a planet with a bunch of nuts on it, which is pretty fricking cool in it’s own right! She has super-strength, sharp claws, a prehensile tail, and, of course, the ability to communicate with squirrels! She’s also really lighthearted to read about, which can be a breath of fresh air with all the dark and brooding superhero stories that are out there!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOugAGTA3UA/?taken-by=jac_attacking

The first trade contains the first 4 issues as well as her debut in Marvel Super-Heroes #8!

I 100% agree with you, Knitting4funz. Doreen and her knitting pal, Nancy, are a breath of fresh air, which is sort of wonderfully ironic when you consider her first appearance. She made her debut back in 1991 in Marvel Super-Heroes Vol. 2 #8 in a one-off story with Iron Man. She was a goofy teenager with bad eye makeup, who just wanted to be Iron Man’s sidekick.

Spoilers: Iron Man rejects her team-up proposal, but she’s the one who defeats Doctor Doom.

Squirrel Girl’s ability to defeat hardcore villains, became something of a running joke until Ryan North got his hands on her and wrote The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl with Erica Henderson doing the art. Suddenly, she wasn’t a silly throwaway character. They ditched the bad outfit and molded her into an upbeat college girl, who embraces the absurdity of superheros. Trust me, she’s your new fav superhero.

And if I may address Netflix and the MCU for a moment, it’s a tragedy that there isn’t a Squirrel Girl movie or TV series yet. Plenty of talented actresses, including Anna Kendrick, have come forward expressing interest in playing Doreen Green. Get on it, people! In the meanwhile, I’ll keep gobbling up the trades as they come out.

Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Squirrel Girl pattern here, featuring her lovable sidekick Tippy-Toe. Instructions and charts for both knit and crochet are listed in the pattern. When you’re finished making it, don’t forget to Instagram your squares at us @lattesandllamasyarn with the hashtag #geekalong!

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
Squirrel Girl, Squirrel Girl! She’s a human and also a squirrel! Can she climp up a tree? Yes she can, easily. That’s whyyyy her name is Squirrel Girl! Is she though? Listed bud: She’s got partially squirrel blood. Who’s her friend? Don’t you know: That’s the squirrel Tippy-Toe. Surprise! She likes to talk to squirrels! At the top of trees, is where she spends her time like a huuuuman squirrel she enjoys fighting crime!! Squirrel Girl, Squirrel Girl! Powers of both squirrel and girl! Finds some nuts, eats some nuts, kicks bad guuuuuys’ evil butts! To her, life is a great big acorn! Where there’s a city crime-torn, you’ll find the Squirrel Girl!!! — Doreen Green, singing her own theme song to the tune of Spider-Man

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If you enjoyed this post, please consider making a donation to Child’s Play Charity. Here is a direct link to our official donation widget benefiting the charity. Please help us raise $1,000 this year. No contribution is too small! Wanna make your donation go even further? Lattes & Llamas will donate $1 for every skein of Geek-A-Long Yarn purchased. Ask your local yarn store to carry GAL Yarn or get it through our website.

2 thoughts on “2017 Geek-A-Long: Squirrel Girl

  1. Nicole says:

    Neat! I hadn’t heard of Squirrel Girl before (my superhero knowledge is sadly very limited) but now I have to go look her up! Also, there’s a squirrel on the GAL blanket. I have to knit this one just for that.

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