2014 Geek-A-Long: Wonder Woman

Welcome to week 14 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 Wonder Woman.

My love of Wonder Woman was inherited.  My dad liked the original comics so much that he even sent fan mail to her as a child.  He showed me one of the letters he sent to DC:

Dear Wonder Woman,

I wish your comics were more realistic.  Like Batman.

-Billy Forsythe

Despite my dad’s accusation that “bullets and bracelets” couldn’t happen in the real world, he loved her and exposed me to her earliest comics when I was young and impressionable.  There was a while there that when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I would answer “Diana Price”.   I think her status as a great role model for young women has stood the test of time.  The creator of Wonder Woman, William Moulton Marston was a loud supporter of the feminist movement, AND an accomplished Psychologist whose other accomplishments include inventing the precursor to the modern lie detector.

This is actually not the original design for the Wonder Woman square.  The first one was a more minimalist design with the red WW on a blue back ground.  But as it came time to write this week’s post I looked at the square and said to myself “Nope.  Princess Diana of Themyscira deserves flare“.  (And in case your name is Jac: No, it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I needed an excuse not to sleep so that I could watch more Chem lectures. That was just a perk, Jacquline. Geeze.) I think I’ve delivered on that, and I’m thrilled with the final design.  This is one of the more challenging squares, thanks to that fade in the middle, but I think it’s well worth the effort.

Wonder Woman

© Megan-Anne of Lattes & Llamas, 2014

Needles: Size US6

Yarn: Cascade 220 in blue, white, yellow and red.

Gauge: 10 sts over 13 rows = 2″ x 2″ square. Final square is 45 sts by 57 rows.  Please note that in the written pattern I instruct you to knit the rows above and below the active color chart.  These rows are shown on the chart as solid color rows above and below the design.

Download PDF of the color chart wonderwoman. Cast on 45 sts for each side of knitting (with two strands held together CO 45, for a total of 90 sts on needle).

Work 5 rows of double-sided knitting (knit the facing sts and purl the back sts across).  The first row is a wrong side row, so knit with the color you want in the foreground and purl the color you want in the background. You may choose to work the opposite color for the first stitch of each row (I do this), which will keep the edges closed. Alternately, you may choose to knit them without doing this and seam the sides when putting the blanket together. There is no “right” way to do this. It is really just what you are more comfortable with.

Follow color chart over next 50 rows in double-sided knitting.

Work 2 rows of double-sided knitting. BO.

Don’t forget to post links to your finished squares, so we can all oooh and ah together. We even have a fancy new GAL Participation Button you can put on your blog or your Geek-A-Long posts. You can grab the html out of the side bar or find it here.

If you’re having trouble with double-sided knitting, we have a how-to video here and you can find moral support on our at the Geek-A-Long group on Ravelry here. We’re even raffling off some sweet prizes for our members at the end of the year! You can learn more about it in the group or here, here, and here.

~ Megan-Anne
I can’t remember where I left my invisible plane.

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