A-knit-mation domination

Like most of the world, I am obsessed with Across the Spider-Verse.

My expectations for the sequel were sky-high after falling in love with the first film, even if that wasn’t fair to ATSV. And while it met those and then some—I’ve been listening to Daniel Pemberton’s score on repeat since then—I lost it in a very me way when I discovered that Mayday Parker wore a tiny Spidey hat and pulled it over her face like she was putting on her own mask. I know nothing about Peter Parker as a dad in the comics, but you don’t need to know any of that to appreciate a baby with a web-slinger.

For a hot minute, I was obsessed with figuring out what the hat was: Knitted? Crocheted? Was there some macrame in there? Did the animators mix several techniques to achieve the desired result for style’s sake? How did the 1,000+ animators design and animate a knitted hat like that, on top of every other wild thing they did in this movie? (In a new report from Vulture, one answer to that is not-great working conditions for those animators and artists.) The only thing I’m sure about is that Peter B. 100% made that hat for Mayday, and I will die on that hill.

I’ve also been seeing the trailer for DreamWorks’ Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, an upcoming animated film where Krakens are the heroes of the sea (and Mermaids are the villains), in theaters a lot lately; it comes out next week. And while I haven’t seen it yet—it looks cute, for what it’s worth—I always return to Ruby’s neon green turtleneck sweater. The stitching is beautifully defined, and the yarn used to make it just shimmers. It reminds me of the glittery synthetic yarn I’ve seen at Michaels and natural yarn sprinkled around different booths at Vogue Knitting Live.

Did you forget Netflix is releasing a Chicken Run sequel from Aardman in December? So did I, at least until Aardman released a poster riffing off of Dune: Part Two a few weeks ago with a knitting chicken I forgot was in the original movie; in my defense, I haven’t seen it in ages. And if you want to talk about knitting animation’s undisputed MVPs over the last few decades, it has to be Aardman.

Then there’s an oldie I encountered recently that’s so impressive I’m saving it for this issue’s KotW. (More below.)

The Knit: Flying Fox Shawl

Pattern: Ravelry (no non-Rav link this time, but I believe Argyle Yarn Shop sells physical copies of the pattern)

Yarn: The Wandering Flock Merino DK in Ombre Skies

Like many people, I made an impulsive purchase or two in the early days of the pandemic. A Nintendo Switch and Animal Crossing? Check. Lots of flour for my sourdough phase? Check. More yarn than I could ever need for myself? Check (but I’m starting to work through it).

This variegated Merino wool yarn from a Brooklyn-based indie dyer—who was selling it through a Brooklyn-based yarn shop—was one of those early indulgences. I didn’t know what to do with the yarn, and the patterns I liked either required too little or more yarn than I had on hand; I didn’t want to risk a different dye lot not matching. It would take me until this past April when I stumbled into another Brooklyn-based yarn shop and found a pattern I liked, so it sat in my yarn bin for over three years.

It sheds far more than I like, but I can’t deny how the colors contained in this yarn—blue, green, purple, yellow, and pink—blend together.

The different sections guarantee I’m not entirely bored with a single stitch for too long, which is nice. I have just over 50 rows left to knit, and I’m about to start the second skein. But by the time I cast off, I’ll have added more than 100 stitches to my needles, and I might need all the yarn I’ve got.

The Flick: Justified season 1

Streaming: Hulu

In one of my many notebooks in my room, I have a list of two dozen TV shows I’ve sworn I’ll watch that are separated by the vibe they give off. I don’t remember when I started making that list, but I can guarantee that Justified was probably on one of, if not the first, iterations. It just took a bit longer than I thought it would. (Thanks, Peak-Peak TV.)

I don’t know if I’ll catch up in time for Justified: City Primeval, the sequel miniseries set to air on FX/stream on Hulu next month, but I might try. And so far, I’m hooked. I’ve seen more than my fair share of flawed and violent heroes and antiheroes with major daddy issues in the age of prestige TV, but I’ll let this one pass. It feels procedural right now—except the case-of-the-week is almost an afterthought—but it has everything: Charm, a southern drawl, and Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens. (You know, Judge Gen was onto something!)

And I’ve only seen him in a few episodes so far, but I’m a massive fan of Walton Goggins’ Boyd Crowder barreling in like a tornado; every scene he’s in makes the show so much better, especially whenever he spars with Raylan. I don’t think they’ll ever hook up—if they had, I would’ve heard about it before now through the fandom grapevine—but I ship it anyway. And it’s possible it could be a love story in a metaphorical sense.

What I’m Reading

• Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood by Maureen Ryan: If you have any interest in the TV/film industry—as a viewer, as a critic, as someone who is making it or wants to make it—this is a must-read. Incredibly detailed, succinct, and absolutely infuriating in all the ways it’s meant to be. (If you want a preview, check out the excerpts that take on Lost and SNL.)

• A Court of Thorns and Roses (series) by Sarah J. Maas: I know that ACOTAR is popular on BookTok—which does have some solid book recs amid some titles I do not care for, imo—but it was a friend who turned me onto this series. It’s entertaining and addictive, with some fantastic world-building, and I’m into the series' fantasy and romance elements. And although it will take a while before the next book is released (I’m so impatient right now), I at least have the rest of Maas’ bibliography to catch up on first.

• The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren: I don’t watch much reality TV apart from the feel-good kind—a la GBBO, Queer Eye, Great Pottery Throw Down, and Making It—but I love reading reality TV AU fics. Naturally, Christina Lauren’s sequel to The Soulmate Equation (also great!), in which a romance author is positioned as the star of a reality dating show where America picks her soulmate when it might be the producer who recruited her (and whose career is riding on the show), is actual Michelle catnip.

Shameless Plugs

• This is a very pro-romance newsletter, so I must hype Netflix’s Queen Charlotte miniseries.

• I wrote about You Hurt My Feelings, The Mother, Willow’s removal from Disney+, the mess that was Ted Lasso season 3, and Barry season 4.

• I reviewed Elemental, Stan Lee, Break the Game, and The Perfect Find at the 2023 Tribeca Festival. And I highlighted a few more of my favorites in a best-of roundup.

• I’m on Bluesky now! Feel free to add me if you’ve gotten into the beta and are hanging around.

• Here’s a link to donate to the Entertainment Community Fund, which helps those financially affected by the Writers’ Strike.

• And to all of my readers, Happy Pride!

Knitwear of the Week

Knit: A tiny-as-hell, dark blue turtleneck sweater with white stars scattered across it that glow in the dark.

Worn By: Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning), the curious heroine initially enthralled by another world where her parents entertain her every whim, in Coraline.

Costume Designer: Deb Cook; conceptual sweater hand-knitted by Althea Crome

I’ve long been a fan of stop-motion animation and the sheer amount of detail that went into Coraline, all the way down to the starry hand-knit sweater and little gloves, which were hand-knitted before the Coraline figure would wear them.

Going to leave this quote from Crome here without further comment.

Want to nominate your own Knitwear of the Week?

I’m now offering you a chance to nominate your favorite piece of cinematic knitwear. I’ve got more information about what I’m looking for here. So, if you’ve got one, send an email over to [email protected] with your pick!