Tapestry of Nerd-dom!

Alright, so this here is one of my long-term projects that I've got going on, so I'll be posting progress updates from time to time.  The original idea (as well as a few of the patterns) came from Lattes and Llamas, another great blog run by folks who are after my own geeky heart.  They're hosting a geek-a-long (a knit-a-long, but for geeks) in which each week they release a pattern for a particular square, and at the end of the year, you stitch the squares together to form a blanket.  This is their second year running it, and I give them serious kudos for the creativity of some of their designs.

Arthur keeps a close eye on my projects.

Going through their list of patterns made my inner nerd squeal with delight, but -- as unfortunately happens to all nerds at some point -- I found some of my favorite fandoms hadn't made the list.  Mind you, there were some that I had never even heard of before, but that's what happens in the geek world...everyone's got their own thing, and that's okay.  Well, what do we do when we can't find the pattern we're looking for?  We make it up, of course!

So, I've decided that this is going to be my big project for the year.  Not just for me, but about me.  It's going to be a showcase of the things I'm passionate about -- I'm nerdy and proud of it!  Of course, as soon as I told my husband about it, he immediately started listing squares that he wants included (*go learn to knit your own darn squares!*).  I'm already working on his Christmas gift though, so he'll just have to be happy with that.  But that's a story for another post.

Got a designated blanket stash.

Anyhow, I started it -- as I often do -- without really having a clear idea of the finished work, and formulated my plan as I went.  Here's what I decided:
1) Given the epicness of this work, plus the fact that we have four cats who leave everything they come into contact with covered in fur, I'm actually going to hang this blanket on the wall over our bed, like a tapestry.  Hence the name.
2) Each square is going to be made with not just the particular fandom (which can sometimes be a little broad) but a specific character or person in mind.  That way, it becomes sort of an homage to some of my heroes and, let's face it...some of my favorite sci-fi hotties.
3) As I work on each piece, I'm refusing to tell my inquisitive husband what the finished image will be, and seeing how long it takes for him to guess.  This is purely for my own evil amusement, as not knowing the answer makes him twitchy.

The designs of the squares are made for double-sided knitting (which makes them reversible), which despite how intimidating it sounds at first, is really not all that difficult.  Lattes and Llamas made a great how-to video here that I used to figure out just what I was doing.  The same patterns, however, can also be used if you wanted to simply knit a single-sided piece in multiple colors, crochet, or even cross-stitch.  Whenever I use a pattern that rightfully belongs to someone else, I will post the link back to their site.  Any of the patterns I create myself will be included in my post.