Knit Madness Day 6: Textured/Miscellaneous

After a major boost in subscribers leading into yesterday’s newsletter, there are even more of you here. I’m so happy to have you playing along. The choices will only get harder from here.

Recap: Day 5, Cables

The thing that’s surprised me the most about this competition so far is the vulnerability of Harry’s (Billy Crystal) Aran from When Harry Met Sally… It beat The Thomas Crown Affair by only four votes in the first round (when there were a lot fewer people voting now), and this time, it eked out a victory by only a single vote. Could it be vulnerable when it faces off against Derry Girls’ Sister Michael (Siobhán McSweeney) in the Sweet Sixteen? Or will it once again emerge victorious?

• Matchup: (1) Knives Out (64.5%) vs (9) The Mandalorian (35.5%)

• Matchup: (3) When Harry Met Sally… (50.9%) vs (6) Star Trek: Picard (49.1%)

• Matchup: (4) Firefly (68.1%) vs (5) Gilmore Girls (31.9%)

• Matchup: (10) Love Story (1970) (43.5%) vs (15) Derry Girls (56.5%)

You can find a detailed rundown of Knit Madness here.

Today’s Matchups

Matchup: (1) The Nanny season 2 vs (9) The Wheel of Time season 1

(1) The Nanny (2×20, “Lamb Chop’s On the Menu”)

The Sweater: A striped rainbow mohair sweater that will brighten up any New York City home.

Who Wore It: Fran Fine (Fran Drescher), Flushing, Queens’ finest nanny.

Replica: Yes

Notes: Perhaps the brightest entry in this entire bracket.

Previously Defeated: (16) Empire Records.

(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: Previous Knitwear of the Week recipient. And one of the few characters in the entire tournament wearing career-appropriate attire: Before he leaves the village he calls home, he and his father are sheepherders.

Previously Defeated: Fellow ginger in (8) Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan).

Who has the better sweater?

Matchup: (2) Coraline vs (7) My So-Called Life season 1

(2) Coraline

The Sweater: A dark blue sweater with silver stars.

Who Wore It: Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning), the extremely precocious (and titular) 10-year-old who discovers another world parallel to her own inside her house.

Replica: Yes

Notes: A previous pick for Knitwear of the Week, which I expanded on at Reactor Mag last year. Hand-knitted with what feels like the world’s tiniest needles.

Previously Defeated: (15) The Way We Were.

(7) My So-Called Life (at least five episodes including 1×07, “Why Jordan Can’t Read”)

The Sweater: It’s two sweaters in one: A white tank top sweater and a striped long-sleeved sweater worn underneath.

Who Wore It: Suburban teenager Angela Chase (Claire Danes)

Replica: No

Notes: Angela’s favorite sweater, according to My So-Called Life costume designer Patrick R. Norris; it showed up in at least five of the show’s 19 episodes.

Previously Defeated: (10) Bonnie and Clyde.

Who has the better sweater?

Matchup: (3) Only Murders in the Building season 1 vs (11) Penny Dreadful season 2

(3) Only Murders in the Building (1×02, “Who Is Tim Kono?”)

The Sweater: A fluffy gray and rainbow-color striped pullover.

Who Wore It: Artist, podcaster, sleuth, and knitter Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), who lives in a building with an unusual abundance of murders.

Replica: Yes

Notes: A TV show I’ve seen very little of (it’s on my list) that spoils its viewers with Great Sweaters. This particular sweater only appears to be in the episode for a few minutes, which seems like a waste of a good sweater.

Previously Defeated: The festive (14) The Santa Clause.

(11) Penny Dreadful (2×07, “Little Scorpion”)

The Sweater: An olive green sweater with a slightly unbuttoned collar.

Who Wore It: American gunman and roadshow artist Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), who’s often surrounded by characters from 19th-century Victorian Gothic fiction.

Replica: Yes

Notes: For those who think the Josh Hartissance started with Oppenheimer, Penny Dreadful very much argues otherwise—and convincingly, at least from this one photo.

Previously Defeated: (11) No Time to Die’s Bond—James Bond (Daniel Craig).

Who has the better sweater?

Matchup: (12) While You Were Sleeping vs (13) A Fish Called Wanda

(12) While You Were Sleeping

The Sweater: A light gray oversized sweater with massive sleeves.

Who Wore It: Lucy Eleanor Moderatz (Sandra Bullock), a Chicago fare token collector who falls for one man, saves him, and then falls for his brother after lying to his family by telling them she’s the first brother’s fiancée.

Replica: No

Notes: On my list for possible future Knitwear of the Week entries. Extremely cozy-looking.

Previously Defeated: (5) Home Alone.

(13) A Fish Called Wanda

The Sweater: A bright pink mohair cardigan.

Who Wore It: Con artist Wanda Gershwitz (Jamie Lee Curtis), who’s attempting to retrieve stolen diamonds after a heist (and seduces a barrister during that mission).

Replica: No

Notes: Some questionable fashion choices between knitwear and the outfit underneath tbh.

Previously Defeated: (4) The Wrong Trousers—but it’s more like Wallace and Gromit as a whole.

Who has the better sweater?

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