Geek-A-Long
2018 Geek-A-Long: Mutant Enemy
May
When tasked with designing another Buffy the Vampire Slayer square, we weren’t quite sure what to do. Our first thought had been to write ‘Buffy’ across it in the iconic font, and to be honest, if we weren’t releasing squares week to week based on your votes, that’s probably what we would’ve chosen. But the extreme double knitting chart would’ve taken a lot of time we didn’t have this week. Funny story, Megan-Anne casted off this square a few hours ago!
I’m not gonna lie, we’re starting to feel the burn of not having the squares/blanket already completed. There have been times coughlike this weekcough where we both forgot that it wasn’t already done and waiting in the Geek-A-Long box for us to photograph until Thursday! Thank the knitting gods that Megan-Anne is such a fast knitter.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjQs9r3nohx/?taken-by=doctor_llama
Don’t worry. The knitting Apocalypse came and we adverted it in true Buffy fashion.
Putting the monster from the Mutant Enemy Productions title card on the square instead of a super cool pic of Buffy was also done for logistical reasons. Portraits, especially of my mentor Buffy Summers, take a looooooong time for me to design. Plus, Megan-Anne knits faster if the design is complicated and asymmetrical, which meant the Buffy’s Scythe was out too.
If you’re unfamiliar with Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the Whedonverse, it might seem like a strange move to immortalize a production company’s logo, but the little guy is almost like an unofficial mascot of the show as he “Grr Argh-ed his way into our hearts after every episode. At one point Tara actually references him when she gives Giles a small rubber monster before he leaves for England. She says:
“And a monster. Sort of a Sunnydale souvenir, we thought. Grr. Argh.”
His animation was changed for a few notable episodes. After the heart wrenching finale of season two (Becoming, Part Two), he says “Oooo, I need a hug.” In the season six musical episode, Once More with Feeling, he sings the line in falsetto. One of my personal favorites is when he wears a graduation cap in honor of Buffy’s high school graduation.
I love the way he turned out. He actually started as a little blob in the bottom right hand corner, and he got progressively bigger as I tried to make him more detailed and recognizable. Next thing I knew, he was this dashing gentleman! To be honest, it’s embarrassing how many times I danced him around saying, “Grr. Argh.”
If you’re newer to the Geek-A-Long and haven’t combed through long list of squares yet, you can find our first Buffy the Vampire Slayer tribute via this link. After all these years, it’s still one of my personal favorites. And if you haven’t knitted it yet, I highly recommend adding it to your blanket. It would look super cool next to the Mutant Enemy square.
Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Mutant Enemy pattern here. 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
Also, it’s really weird and difficult to correctly draw hands incorrectly. Me, Thursday afternoon studying the Mutant Enemy title card: “That’s not how hands work. Why are these hands so bad? No wonder he’s always saying, ‘Grr. Argh.’ His hands were mangled!”
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