Knit Madness Day 13: Championship

Well, this is it. The moment we've all been waiting for.

I’m not gonna yap too much here because, well, you’ve become more than familiar with these sweaters. I’ll be back with more thoughts about how this entire tournament played out once it’s all over tomorrow. And no, there will be no April Fools’ Day pranks around the winner.

Recap: Day 12, Final Four

Well, the final two No. 1 seeds went down swinging. One of them was more of a knockout—Murder, She Wrote took the lead early from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and never let go. But the Knives Out and The Wheel of Time matchup? Just brutal. Not only did Ransom and Rand change hands on who led multiple times during the 24 hours this poll ran (which also broke the previous record for most votes in a single poll), but up until one hour before it closed, only five votes separated the two.

• Matchup: (1) Knives Out (47%) vs (9) The Wheel of Time (53%)

• Matchup: (2) Murder, She Wrote (57%) vs (1) Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (43%)

And here’s the full bracket leading into the finals.

You can find a detailed rundown of Knit Madness here.

Today’s Matchup

Matchup: (9) The Wheel of Time season 1 vs (2) Murder, She Wrote season 1

Textured/Miscellaneous Champion: (9) The Wheel of Time (1×01, “Leavetaking”)

The Sweater: A fuzzy, striped light blue sweater.

Who Wore It: A very naive—and pre-Dragon Reborn—Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski)

Replica: Yes

Notes: Could you have predicted that the main hero of The Wheel of Time—a TV show in its third season that very few people I know IRL watch—would make it to the Championship round? And after taking out the very famous Chris Evans Knives Out sweater? I definitely could not. Or maybe that makes more sense if you’ve seen/read everything Rand’s endured in the series¹ . But how will he fare in this Last Battle?

Previously Defeated: Fellow ginger in (8) Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan); (1) The Nanny in a big upset; (12) While You Were Sleeping in a rematch following a tie; (3) Only Murders in the Building in another upset; (1) Knives Out in perhaps the biggest upset of all.

Color Work/Christmas Champion: (2) Murder, She Wrote (1×02, “Deadly Lady”)

The Sweater: A cream-colored zippered cardigan with several fish stitched together in black yarn on the front and sleeves. (Not seen: Even more fish on the back.)

Who Wore It: Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who’s perhaps the greatest detective that Cabot Cove has ever seen. Or she should be.

Replica: Yes

Notes: Dame Angela Lansbury and one of Jessica Fletcher’s cozy cardigans have made their way to the Finals, with some assistance from r/murdershewrote. But will it be enough for this Sweater Queen to claim victory?

Previously Defeated: (15) Finding Mr. Christmas; (7) Bridget Jones’s Diary; (14) What We Do in the Shadows; (12) A Close Shave; (1) Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Who has the better sweater?

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1  I’m caught up with the show but have only read up to The Fires of Heaven (Wheel of Time Book 5), so please, no future book spoilers.