Geek-A-Long
2018 Geek-A-Long: The Dresden Files
Nov
Stars and stones, you guys, it’s the last Geek-A-Long Square of 2018! This year has been a crazy adventure of fandoms, and I’m thrilled that in the 11th hour, the Dresden Files received enough votes to make it onto the blanket. I’ve talked about The Dresden Files a lot here on the blog, but almost none on the Geek-A-Long posts. I dream of doing a book club that legit happens on a set schedule, and every now and then I start one up. The truth is, life happens, and even though I keep up with my reading I don’t keep up with blogging about it, and the book club posts die out until the next time I revive them. Mostly, it’s that behind the scenes running a business is much harder than we let on. And we regularly have to do things that make money, but aren’t so much fun, and that can get in the way of the side projects like book club. I’ve thought about starting up a Patreon to raise the funds to have more book club type stuff, and less actual adulting in our business, but the time never seems quite right for it. And asking for money makes me inherently uncomfortable. I might do it one day, but not this day.
Anyhow, when book club has been in full swing I almost always have a Jim Butcher title on my list. I give the Dresden Files a lot of crap, and nearly all of it is deserved, but I still LOVE them. They’ll probably never pass a Bechdel test, but read them anyhow, because they are so insanely fun. If you want to read the book club posts on all things Jim Butcher I’ve covered The Codex Alera, and the Dresden Files.
I’m such a Dresden fan girl that I ran an entire Mystery Knit-A-Long based on one of my absolute favorites of the Dresden Files books: Working for Bigfoot! Hunting Sasquatch was the very first of our Cryptid Knits series, and was the spark that started our overall Cryptid obsession. So, in a way, the Dresden Files are at least partly responsible for bringing you Jackalope Jane, Nessie Expedition, and The Call of the Siren.
I think Working for Bigfoot is the Dresden Files at its best. It was originally released as a standalone collection of the 3 short stories, but that’s super hard to come by in hard copy now. However, all 3 of them are included in the most recent collection of Dresden Files short stories: Brief Cases. Full disclosure: that last one is an Amazon link. We have done (and disclosed) Amazon affiliate links before, but haven’t been using them lately. This one isn’t an affiliate link. But I want you to read the book, and I can’t reasonably link to everyone’s hometown library. So borrow it, or buy it, but definitely read it.
Arminty nominated the Dresden Files to the blanket, and I’m not even remotely sorry to admit that I had said in the chit-chat thread that I really hoped someone would. It felt like cheating to nominate a fandom myself. It felt like a cheating loophole to shamelessly ask that someone else nominate it for me.
DrLlama mentioned Dresden Files in the chit chat thread, post 1006. I don’t see it listed here so I wanted to make sure it “officially” gets nominated.
I love the Dresden Files! I was exposed to the TV show first (one season only sadly) which was awesome. Then I read the books which are even better. What’s not to love about magic and wizards? Plus vampires and other supernatural stuff!
It has been a while since I have engaged with either medium but I am sure there is plenty to choose from for imagery.
We had so many options for this square. I really wanted to put Butters riding a zombie T-Rex while playing polka, but it didn’t fit. I have however, filed that away as something that I clearly have to put on a shawl in the near future. In the end, we decided to go with the iconic Blue Beetle. More than his staff, or duster, or even his mother’s amulet, I feel like the Blue Beetle is the perfect representation of Harry Dresden.
It’s been an amazing year, and I’m sad to see it end, but we’ve got another fabulous year of Geek-A-Long action coming at you in 2019! Next week we’ll be back with one last 2018 premium GAL project, and the week after we’ll post a tutorial for this year’s join. You’ll like the join this year. It’s time consuming, but also very easy, and has a look very similar to the much more difficult LLJ from year 1. Don’t worry, I learned my lesson and there is absolutely no knitting backwards in this year’s join. You won’t even have to purl.
Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Dresden Files pattern here. Instructions and charts for both knit and crochet are listed in the pattern. When you’re finished making it, don’t forget to Instagram your squares at us @lattesandllamasyarn 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.
~ Megan-Anne
“Because Thomas is too pretty to die. And because I’m too stubborn to die.” … “And most of all because tomorrow is Oktoberfest, Butters, and polka will never die.” -Harry Dresden (Dead Beat)
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