Geek-A-Long, Patterns
2018 Geek-A-Long: Jessica Jones
Mar
This year, in bold defiance of expectations, we threw out the Geek-A-Long rule book and are including some non-square designs in place of the usual GAL posts. Every fourth week, we will release a premium pattern that was inspired by one of our favorite squares from years past. Check out the Squares page in the 2018 section for the complete schedule. The premium patterns will be released on Ravelry for $6.00 each with $1.00 from every sale getting donated to Child’s Play Charity. But for you, because you deserve it, they will be free! The Geek-A+Long post on premium pattern day will contain a coupon code to get the pattern for free on Ravelry. Just come here, grab your code, and you’ll be all set to download the pattern. So, with no further ado, I present the third pattern in our Geek-A-Long line: The Jessica Slippers.
You can get your Jessica Slippers pattern for free by clicking the link below and entering the code JESSICAJONES at check out. (This coupon code will expire one year and a day from today, at which point it will be $6.)
A PDF will be emailed to you by Ravelry. You don’t need to be a Ravelry member to purchase the pattern, but if you are, the PDF will show up in your library.
I’m not too proud a nerd to admit that I hadn’t read much of the Jessica Jones comics prior to the Netflix show. But, man, that show is AMAZEBALLS. So if you haven’t seen it, watch it. I’m going to avoid spoilers in this post. Normally I wouldn’t avoid them so thoroughly, but Jac hasn’t finished season two yet. And you know, family matters. What I will say however, is that Killgrave, the season one villain played by David Tennant, is one of the scariest TV villains I’ve ever seen.
Jessica is not a conventional choice for role model. I never used to really think about that when I consumed media, but now that Mabel the Merciless is starting to understand TV shows, I regularly find myself judging shows on whether or not I’d want my daughter to idolize the female characters. Jessica does not give any shits whatsoever what you or anyone else thinks of her. That’s actually not 100% true. She’d prefer you not think of her as a vigilante-superhero, but that’s beside the point. She drinks too much. If she feels like hooking up, she does. She is not polite. Most the time it would be fair to say she’s an ass. She almost never apologizes because she is almost never sorry. And frankly, if Mabel wants to be a bad-ass private investigator that pounds on bad guys for fun and lives by her own rules, that would be just fine with me. I mean, I’m hoping to avoid the alcoholism and promiscuity, but big picture, I’m down with Jessica Jones as a role model.
Jessica first appeared on the 2017 Superhero blanket. I really liked that square. We have “square types” most years and the 2014, 2016 and 2017 blankets had what I’ll call “1/2 and 1/2” designs. The square would basically be a split screen of the same character doing 2 things. I especially like that style. There’s something about it that gets me right in my tingly-color-chart-place.
The slippers are a nod to Jessica’s classic comic costume. I used our Fandom Yarn for them, and the squishy merino has enough yardage to get the full pair out of just one skein. The color I used is a monochrome speckle in purple called “Brony”. The slippers feature a smocked texture that creates diamonds reminiscent of Jessica’s classic Jewel costume. I designed these to be the perfect compliment to Jessica’s life. The truth is, being a vigilante-superhero is rarely glamorous. There’s more long nights of research and stake-outs than, rescuing hot guys or having dramatic fights with the bad guys. These are the slippers that you’ll want when you’re up all night tailing a lead. They are perfect for keeping your toes warm as you spend hours stalking your client’s wandering husband on social media. The Jessica slippers won’t judge you if you sleep until noon. The Jessica slippers know you need a break. While these make a great gift, I think you should keep them for yourself, because really, don’t you deserve them? I added suede bottoms to mine to make them super extra. You can get the ones I used at yarn.com. They are optional, but for $12.50 they really dress up a project.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgoJcq4nz2P/?taken-by=doctor_llama
If you use them, I recommend locking stitch markers to hold them in place while you sew them on.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgtbNrkno1f/?taken-by=doctor_llama
I had Jessica in mind for the budget of this project. I figure, beginning to end, a typical non-sweater project runs about $50-$100 to make. Generally, 2-3 skeins of yarn, plus a pattern, plus notions. One skein of Fandom Yarn will only set you back $22. You’re getting the pattern for free for being my Geek-A-Long friends. If you spring for the bottoms, after shipping you’ve spent about $40. So that leaves at least $10 in the typical project budget to get some cheap rum and relax in a way that will make Jessica Jones proud.
Before I sign off, I can’t really do this justice without acknowledging Krysten Ritter as knitting’s sweetheart. She (tried) to teach Stephen Colbert to knit
It’s cute, it shows off knitting as something that is for cool young people, and she deserves props for her work. But do any of you have that group of people in your life that sends you every knitting related story and meme they find on the internet as if you definitely wouldn’t have already seen it? I swear, if one more non-knitter sends me this clip on Facebook, I might actually stroke out. ;) But even though I’m over clips of it, there’s no arguing that she is great yarn ambassador.
~Megan-Anne
“I’m putting him out of my misery.”