Geek-A-Long
2015 Geek-A-Long: Hange Zoe
When Megan-Anne and I started putting together a list of mad scientists back in September of 2014, our youngest sister flipped out:
“You have to include Hange Zoe. If you love me at all, you’ll put the Wings of Freedom on the blanket.”
Her declarations were met with blank stares and a resounding, “huh?” Then, our sister’s face turned a special shade of purple as she commandeered the PS3 remote and switched Netflix over from Supernatural to Attack on Titan.
I’m going to be honest. Before that moment, the anime had been collecting dust in my Netflix queue for some time. As someone who can’t sit on the couch without a project in her lap, I don’t watch shows with subtitles. So, it was a surreal experience to actually recognize all of the characters by their faces and not just their voices.
Hange Zoe (or Hanji Zoe, depending on how you cut it) is a squad leader in the Survey Corps, and easily my favorite character in the entire show. She comes off as a hyperactive, overly emotional person, but Hange is driven by a passion few understand. While everyone else is busy being terrified of the titans or hating them, she sees the titans from a different perspective. Hange Zoe is like a tween girl at a boy band concert when it comes to titans; she loves them.
While many find her eccentric view of them as disgusting or a crime against humanity, Hange Zoe is busy thinking outside the box. She performs zany experiments on captured titans to further her research. And while her methods oftentimes terrify bystanders, a good percentage of what humanity knows about titans actually comes from her research. Basically, she’s another misunderstood mad scientist.
If you’ve never watched or heard of Attack on Titan and Hange Zoe, the anime is not for the feint at heart. Just about everyone dies in the most soul crushing way. Every time you think it can’t possibly get worse, it does. You’re like, “Gee. Maybe now things will turn around and the humans might actually have half a second to be happy?” No. That fleeting moment is all they get.
Still, I totally love it.
Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Hange Zoe pattern here. Instructions for both knit and crochet are listed in the pattern. When you’re finished making it, don’t forget to tweet or instagram your squares at me @jac_attacking or Megan-Anne @Doctor_Llama with the hashtag #geekalong!
If you’re having trouble with double-sided knitting, we have a how-to video here and a tutorial on crochet here. Want to hang out with other people making the blanket? You can find moral support in the Geek-A-Long group on Ravelry here.
~ Jac
I can call the titans giant-naked-man-baby-dolls if I want to, Megan-Anne.
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