2018 Geek-A-Long: Candy Kingdom Pullover

I know that Mabel the Merciless looks as if she’s super happy on this carousel, but only half an hour earlier, her hopes and dreams were crushed. Megan-Anne and I had put off doing the photo shoot until the last minute since the carnival was going to be in town this weekend. We had these grand ideas of photographing her with some cotton candy with the lights of the ferris wheel behind her, but it has done nothing but rain ALL WEEKEND. The projected “scattered thunderstorms” turned into “persistent, non-stop rain,” so we couldn’t even pop over long enough for her to get the cotton candy and carnival fun we’ve been hyping for weeks. Her little heart was broken.

To make up for it, and to get pictures of the Candy Kingdom Pullover, we took my niece to one of her favorite places, the mall. She loves riding the escalators more than she loves carousels, which is saying something. I mean, just look at this kid’s face. These are meme-able levels of joy.

We’re on week four again of our special four week cycle for the Geek-A-Long’s five year anniversary, which means it’s time for another premium pattern! For your consideration, I present the Candy Kingdom Pullover.

The only thing sweeter than candy is how your little one will look in this Candy Kingdom inspired sweater. As an added bonus, wearing the Candy Kingdom Pullover won’t cause a sugar crash later! Knit top down in one piece and designed to capture the whimsical aesthetic of Adventure Time’s candy city, this pullover is posh enough for Princess Bubblegum and sturdy enough to hold up through all the adventures it’s sure to be worn on.

You can get the Candy Kingdom Pullover pattern for free by clicking the buy now link below AND entering the code ‘CANDY4LIFE’ at check out. This coupon code will expire one year and a day from today, at which point it will be $6 USD.

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.

Every single one of our Premium Geek-A-Long Patterns were inspired by a square from prior years. This one is in memoriam of Adventure Time, a children’s television show on Cartoon Network that aired its final episode earlier this week. And oh boy, was it a doozy. I’m torn between gushing about how influential the show has been in the cartoon world, ranting about how it ended too soon, or just talking about the finale.

If you’ve never watched the show, you can learn more about it in my Princess Bubblegum post from 2015. Do NOT start with episode one. Like most pilots, it isn’t wholly representative of the series. Two of my favorite episodes to show people first is “What Was Missing” from Season 3, episode 10 or “Dad’s Dungeon” from Season 1, episode 18.

Adventure Time is made of bright colors, cuteness, and a whole lot of weird. The cartoon is a bizarre culmination of dark themes and adorableness, which is basically the essence of Princess Bubblegum and why I love her.

Many of the people who worked on Adventure Time went on to create some of my new favorites such as Steven Universe, Over the Garden Wall, and Summer Camp Island. It laid the groundwork for other cartoonist to embrace the weird and create charmingly quirky cartoons for the next generation to enjoy.

And instead of talking about the finale, which some people might not have seen yet, I’m going to leave you with some of the best quotes from Adventure Time:

• “People get built different. We don’t need to figure it out, we just need to respect it.” – Princess Bubblegum
• “Something weird might just be something familiar viewed from a different angle.” – Marcy’s Mom
• “Sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something.” – Jake
• “I say ‘creepy’ is just another label we use to distance ourselves from stuff we don’t understand. Or that it reminds us of something in ourselves that we’re not comfortable with. It just ain’t a real thing, ya know? Unless you choose to believe it.” – Finn
• “No one flicks me in the butt without my consent!” – Finn
• “This cosmic dance of bursting decadence and withheld permissions, twists all our arms collectively. But, if sweetness can win, and it can, then I’ll still be here tomorrow to high five you yesterday, my friend. Peace.” – Old Tart Toter

~Jac
Finn: “Yeah, don’t you always call sweatpants ‘give up on life pants’ Jake?”
Jake: “I do because peeps need to respect themselves when they leave the house. Even if it’s just for ice cream or TP or whatevs.”

If you enjoyed this post, please consider making a donation to Child’s Play Charity. Here is a direct link to our official donation widget benefiting the charity. Please help us raise $1,000 this year. No contribution is too small! Wanna make your donation go even further? Lattes & Llamas will donate $1 for every skein of Geek-A-Long Yarn purchased. Ask your local yarn store to carry GAL Yarn or get it through our website.