Welcome to week nine of the 2014 Geek-A-Long, a mystery blanket knit-along (or crochet-along for you rebels out there)! If you’re new to the GAL craziness, check out the Geek-A-Long FAQ page for more details and information. Then, meet us back here when you’re ready. For the seasoned pros, let’s talk about the X-Men.

Jac and I put a lot of thought into which superheroes would grace the nerd-scape of our blanket. I mentioned before that I could easily fill all 48 squares with heroes. We also could have easily done two blankets: one for Marvel and one for DC. Ultimately though, we felt like we wanted this project to at least touch on all of the “classic” fandoms. That meant imagery from TV, film, literature, video games, table top games, and comic books all needed to find a place. That’s a tall order, especially when you consider that some licenses can only be done justice with multiple squares like Harry Potter and Avatar the Last Airbender. So with all of those niches to fill, only a handful of the heroes I love made it onto the blanket.

To rate a square, the hero (or team of heroes) had to be:

1. Extremely Prolific
2. Personally Significant to Jac or I
3. Really Cool

X-men fulfills all of those categories without even trying. I spent the majority of my childhood wrapped up in one form of escapism or another. When I wasn’t sitting in my closet waiting to arrive in Narnia, I was pretending that I attended Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Then I grew up and they cast Patrick Stewart as Professor X, and I moved on from fantasizing that I went to school there to fantasizing that I taught there. It’s no accident that my Mr. Llama has a very Patrick Stewart vibe. ;)

I had a love hate relationship with the square itself when I was making it. I was worried that the classic “X” symbol would be too plain next to some of the other squares. Luckily, I was totally wrong about that. I love the way it looks in the blanket. Having a few squares more on the minimalist side kept it from looking too “busy”.

Post Edited for 5 Year Anniversary

This post has been edited to add an updated version of the X-Men pattern to celebrate five years of geeking along. The graph is the same, but the pattern now includes more information. You can download the new X-Men pattern by clicking the link. Instructions for both knit and crochet are now listed in the pattern. When you’re finished making it, Instagram your squares at us @lattesandllamasyarn with the hashtag #geekalong! This now concludes the edited portion of this post.

Don’t forget to post links to your finished squares, so we can all ooh and ah together and if you’re having trouble with double-knitting, Jac and I recently shot a how-to video on the subject. You can find it here. There is also a Geek-A-Long group on Ravelry where we have prizes! ::insert eyebrow wiggle here:: As always, please hop on over to Child’s Play and show them your love*!

~ Megan-Anne

Oh my stars and garters!

*”Love” in this instance means donating money to benefit sick children.