Knit Madness Day 5: Cables

After four days, half the sweaters are gone.

But on the plus side, there are a lot more of you here than when I launched this tournament after a lovely write-up in Modern Daily Knitting¹² ! I’m happy to have you along for the ride of the rest of Knit Madness—which I’m sure will get even harder to choose winners from after every round—and I hope you stick around after the chaos dies down.

Recap: Day 4, Cardigan/Neck

Partially thanks to a last-minute influx of voters—hi, glad you’re here!—some of these matchups look a lot different than when I went to bed last night. But that’s what’s exciting about watching these play out in real-time!

• Matchup: (1) Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (82.9%) vs (16) The Lake House (17.1%)

• Matchup: (2) The Big Lebowski (58.1%) vs (15) Clueless (41.9%)

• Matchup: (3) Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (43.8%) vs (14) The Lighthouse (56.2%)

• Matchup: (4) Dunkirk (28.2%) vs (13) Moonstruck (71.8%)

• Matchup: (5) Jaws (43.8%) vs (12) Doctor Zhivago (56.2%)

• Matchup: (6) The Banshees of Inisherin (66.7%) vs (11) Grease (33.3%)

• Matchup: (7) The Truman Show (55.8%) vs (10) Scream (1996) (44.2%)

• Matchup: (8) The Holiday (61.2%) vs (9) Poker Face (38.8%)

And here’s the finalized Round of 32!

You can find a detailed rundown of Knit Madness here.

Today’s Matchups

Matchup: (1) Knives Out vs (9) The Mandalorian

(1) Knives Out

Sweater: A purposely distressed white Aran pullover with a level of organic internet virality Lionsgate could’ve never bought.

Who Wore It: Professional shit-stirrer Hugh “Ransom” Drysdale (Chris Evans), who is an affront to sweater care.

Replica: Yes

Notes: Interviewed costume designer Jenny Eagan about it in 2019. This is the only sweater I’ve banned from being selected for Knitwear of the Week—and one several people made sure I included on the list.

Previously Defeated: (16) Friday the 13th

(9) The Mandalorian (2×03, “The Heiress”)

Sweater: A teal cable-knit sweater getting used how it was historically meant to be.

Who Wore It: A Mon Cala Dock Worker (Frank Ippolito) who just wants to do his job in peace.

Replica: No

Notes: For a galaxy rife with lavish costumes, there was very little knitwear in it before this episode aired.

Previously Defeated: (8) House of Gucci.

Who has the better sweater?

Matchup: (3) When Harry Met Sally vs (6) Star Trek: Picard

(3) When Harry Met Sally…

Sweater: A chunky white Aran sweater.

Who Wore It: Harry Burns (Billy Crystal), one-half of one of the rom-com genre’s greatest slow-burns and fully in his divorcé era.

Replica: No

Notes: This sweater was Knit(ting) Flicks’ first-ever Knitwear of the Week, and it’s so iconic that nobody can replicate it, not even Billy Crystal—and he tried!

Previously Defeated: (14) The Thomas Crown Affair, which features one of my favorite movie knits!

(6) Star Trek: Picard (1×01, “Remembrance”)

Sweater: An olive green cable-knit sweater complete with ribbed shoulder pads.

Who Wore It: Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), the U.S.S. Enterprise captain who just wants to enjoy his damn retirement in peace.

Replica: Yes

Notes: Granted, I’m not a huge Star Trek person, but a show where an older Picard hangs out on a vineyard with his dog and gets to relax sounds like a fun one-off.

Previously Defeated: (11) Anatomy of a Fall.

Who has the better sweater?

Matchup: (4) Firefly season 1 vs (5) Gilmore Girls season 1

(4) Firefly (1×08, “Out of Gas,” and 1×12, “The Message”)

Sweater: A yellowish-brown cable-knit sweater.

Who Wore It: Hoban "Wash" Washburne (Alan Tudyk), the Serenity’s resident wife guy.

Replica: Yes

Notes: A cozy knit makes a fan-favorite even cozier.

Previously Defeated: (13) Let’s Make Love, a historic—if only in sweaters—Marilyn Monroe flop.

(5) Gilmore Girls (1×01, “Pilot”)

Sweater: An oversized white Aran sweater.

Who Wore It: High schooler Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel), who’s clearly drowning in it.

Replica: Yes

Notes: An Aran sweater in an idyllic fictional Connecticut town? A likely place for it to be.

Previously Defeated: (12) Local Hero.

Who has the better sweater?

Matchup: (10) Love Story (1970) vs (15) Derry Girls season 3

(10) Love Story (1970)

Sweater: A chunky white Aran so warm that no coat is required.

Who Wore It: Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal), a WASP who comes from old money and falls in love with a working-class Italian American woman. Which, in the time/place that this movie takes place in, is pretty frowned upon.

Replica: No

Notes: A film that almost definitely contributed to the preppy reputation sweaters have nowadays.

Previously Defeated: (7) The Devil Wears Prada.

(15) Derry Girls (3×06, “Halloween,” and 3×07, “The Agreement”)

Sweater: A classically Irish white honeycomb Aran sweater.

Who Wore It: Sister Michael (Siobhán McSweeney), Derry’s most over-it-all nun with great taste in film.

Replica: No

Notes: Previous Knitwear of the Week recipient. Not the only Aran in a nearly perfect season of television. (Watch Derry Girls ASAP.)

Previously Defeated: (2) Titanic in a major upset.

Who has the better sweater?

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1  If I have one clarification: With a few exceptions (because they weren’t on there at all), I used Metacritic as one of the three criteria—four, if patterns were involved—to calculate rankings for nearly all of the films and shows, not Rotten Tomatoes.

2  Of course, in a pure egg-on-face moment, I also very briefly (but long enough for it to have gone out to everyone) got the name of the publication that did the lovely write-up wrong. It’s now fixed, and I regret the error.