2014 Geek-A-Long: Jack Skellington

Hey guys! Week 43 of the Geek-A-Long brings two very special things: the final 5 squares of the 2014 GAL and Halloween! Jac and I love Halloween, and what better way to honor it than with a Jack Skellington square? The thing is, and please don’t tar and feather me for this, I’m just not that into Tim Burton movies. I know I’m supposed to like them, but they just aren’t for me. So this week we’re going a little outside the box. We’ve asked the fabulous Alena Zent to have your back this week with a guest post. See you next week! ~Megan-Anne

Hi! I’m Alena the Jartern (Jar + Intern = Jartern. It’s a long story that involves cake incentives and assembling swag for an upcoming charity event.), a.k.a Megan-Anne and Jac’s baby sister. Much unlike my sisters, I do not enjoy knitting or crochet. I’d much rather spend my time pulling my hair out in frustration while complaining about how hard writing is. So relaxing.

This week’s Geek-A-Long square is one of my personal favorites, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s the story of Jack Skellington and his quest for Christmas cheer as opposed to the usual Halloween scares. We all learn the lesson that you should never trust anyone from Halloweentown with Christmas. And you probably shouldn’t trust three masked kids, who aren’t opposed to sending things to Oogie Boogie.

I think we can all agree the claymation is amazing, but the best part about the Nightmare Before Christmas (other than singing along really loud and off-key) is that it combines the excitement of Halloween with getting to enjoy Christmas two months early without anyone judging you. My sisters and I love Christmas, and if it were socially acceptable we’d wear our comfy Christmas sweaters year round. Like this delightful gem:

http://instagram.com/p/hBkL08HywL/?modal=true

There were a lot of options for this weeks square, as The Nightmare Before Christmas has a lot of identifiable characters: Oogie Boogie, Sally, Dr. Finkelstein, The Mayor. There is actually an alternate square this week, due to that fact. You can download Zero here. But ultimately Megan-Anne and Jac agreed Jack Skellington would be best. So here he is. I hope you enjoy making it as much as I enjoyed watching it be made.

Jack Skellington

© Megan-Anne of Lattes & Llamas, 2014

Needles: Size US6

Yarn: Cascade 220 in 2 sharply contrasting colors.

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 Skellington. 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 2 rows of double-sided knitting (knit the facing sts and purl the back sts across). Note that the first row is a right side row.  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 53 rows in double-sided knitting.

Work 2 rows of double-sided knitting. BO.

Don’t forget to tweet or instagram them at me @Doctor_Llama or Jac @jac_attacking with the hashtag geekalong, 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 in 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 on the GAL Benefactors page.

~ Alena

It was a poem first. Educate yourselves.

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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 donation page benefiting the charity. Please help us raise $1,000 this year! No contribution is too small.