2014 Geek-A-Long: The Neverending Story

The Neverending  Story was my favorite movie when I was a kid, but I didn’t read the book until after college. In some ways, I feel like I missed out. The book is amazing, and I can only imagine how much child-me would have loved it. It’s escapism at its best, and just meta enough to make it easy to believe the premise, which ought to be ridiculous. Even the name of the world, Fantastica, is pretty silly. But Michael Ende knew what he was doing, and at the beginning of the book he presents the fantasy elements as imaginary.  As the book within the book gets more and more real for Bastian, it started to feel more real for me too.

This is the last literary reference of the year and I wanted to bring out something really special. I don’t know if I would have had the same reaction to the AURYN as a kid that I had to it as an adult, but grown-up me was fascinated by it when I read the book. I think the idea of a magical item that grants unlimited wishes, with the stipulation that the wearer loses one of the memories that makes them human, is brilliant. A friend recently showed me the movie The Brass Teapot and it reminded me of the AURYN in a huge way (you should watch it, it’s on Netflix!). No one in these situations really understands what they are giving up until the ante has been upped so much that it feels like there’s no way out. Bastian lost every memory except his mother, father, and his own name before he realized the power that the AURYN had over him. It is both the most delightful, and terrifying plot device I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.

This square almost didn’t make the final cut for the blanket. We had cut it from our original list of square ideas to make room for other fandoms, but when I drew up this pattern we knew it had to go back on.

The Neverending Story

© 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 Neverending Story. 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.

~ Megan-Anne
DO WHAT YOU WISH

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