2014 Geek-A-Long: Alternate Squares

In the process of making the 2014 Geek-A-Long blanket, Megan-Anne and I often rejected multiple designs for a square before settling on the right one. Sometimes we actually liked a certain design more, but ultimately we had to put it aside when it didn’t fit the overall look of the blanket or when a better idea came alone. The Wonder Woman square and the Dr. Who square are a fantastic examples of this.

We already touched on it briefly in the Wonder Woman post:

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.”

For Dr. Who, one of the first designs we thought up was based on the Doctor’s time with Vincent Van Gogh. It made it past the sketch phase, and Megan-Anne actually created a color chart of it. In the end, we rejected the design despite how much we loved it in favor of something more minimalistic.

Aperture Science was one of the rare squares Megan-Anne and I found ourselves passionately disagreeing over the design. She was in favor of the Companion Cube and I was in favor of the Aperture Science logo. In retrospect, it must not have mattered much in the end as neither of us can remember why we felt the way we did. The Aperture Science logo only won because I had conceded on another square. (I can’t tell you which one it was since it won’t debut until much later in the year.)

We would love to knit these alternate squares and show them to you in their final form, but we don’t have the time. Megan-Anne is busy knitting swatches for our fall line of knitting patterns titled Kniterary, I’m writing a book proposal for our “Knit Your Own Adventure” blanket, and we’re both brainstorming ideas for the 2015 Geek-A-Long.

HOWEVER, after taking a quick poll from the GAL Ravelers, we’ve decided to release the alternate squares!

We will post the color charts of the rejected designs when it was just as good as the published one. As of now, there are only three themes that warrant it: Wonder Woman, Aperture Science, and Dr. Who. We promise to release nine more this year as the themes are revealed, so that you can make a baby sized blanket out of the alternate squares if you wish. Click on the links below to directly download color charts of the alternate squares in PDF format.

Official Alternate Squares of Geek-A-Long 2014

© Megan-Anne of Lattes & Llamas, 2014

The Original Wonder Woman
The Companion Cube
Van Gogh’s Dr. Who

And in case you missed it, Megan-Anne announced our fancy new pattern binder earlier today! Get your Team Geek-A-Long Pattern Binder and get organized.

Need somewhere to store your #geekalong2014 patterns? We have a solution for that! http://t.co/ylwUjd8mu8

— Dr. Megan-Anne Llama (@Doctor_Llama) April 28, 2014

If you knit or crochet the alternate squares, please share pics with us! We would love to see them. Email the pictures to our assistant, Dr. Daisy Espresso: dr.daisyespresso [at] gmail.com (Yes, our assistant is a crocheted llama.) Or link to your finished alternate squares in the comments section of this post, so we can all oooh and ah together. If you’re new to the GAL craziness, however, check out the Geek-A-Long FAQ page for more information.

And don’t forget, we have a fancy new GAL Participation Button you can add to your blog or your Geek-A-Long posts. You can grab the html out of the side bar or find it here.

~ Jac
“And you see how they roar their light. Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes.”

* * * * *

If you enjoyed this post, please consider making a donation to Child’s Play Charity. Here is a direct link to our donation page benefiting the charity. Please help us raise $1,000 this year! No contribution is too small.