Avenger, Assemble!

Follow these schematics to put Thor together just so!

I prefer to leave the helmet, boots, and hammer not sewn down, but if you are going to give Thor to a child, it's probably best to sew them down so they don't get lost.

And that's that! Your Thor is all ready to go fight crime on Asgard, Midgard, or your comic book shelf!

I'm working on the Loki pattern and will hopefully have it up by the end of the month!

HAIR

Turn up the glam rock, it's time to knit Thor some godly hair!

These instructions create a wig that fits snugly on the head of a Basic Dolly.
Gauge: stitches and rows per square inch using a smooth, shiny worsted weight yarn.

Fame-ish!

I'm not quite finished with the Thor pattern (really close though!), but I had to post this breaking news concerning a certain hat pattern featured on this site...

I'm on Russian TV -- in my Loki hat! MY PLAN TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD HAS BEEN SET IN MOTION! Unlike with past attempts (Napolean, cough, Hitler, cough cough), I survived the Russian winter. Thus, I am one of Earth's most powerful schemers and the obvious choice to be Loki's number-one ally in planet conquest. Seriously, Avengers would have ended differently if Loki had invaded St. Petersburg and not New York City.

I only today was made aware that a clip that had been shot of me saying "I don't understand" in Russian, which was part of a mini-interview I did with a reporter back in November, has been in use as the opener for a segment on a Russian early morning news show about things foreigners can't understand about Russia. I thought my interview had been discarded because I insisted on asking a difficult question (Why are there posters with lines from Keats in the metro?). Not so! I may never get the answer to this question (really, why? and just the same stanza, oddly enough my favorite, from Ode to A Nightingale, in every single metro station), but I do get my .15 minutes of fame!

To see the whole thing in context, click any one of the most recent (first listed) 12 videos on this page! http://www.5-tv.ru/video/morning5/custom%20such/?page=0

THOR! pt. 1

And here his is, the God of Thunder, at last!

I still need to do up the instructions for Thor's godly mane. I'll also have a page that shows exactly how it is all put together (including facial detail). Verily, I shall do this soon and have the whole pattern available for free downloading at Ravelry.com!

Oh, and here's the hammer!

I'm sorry that the images aren't as clear and neat as in the past. I'm making do with borrowed computer equipment in Russia, OK. It'll be more readable in the PDF once I've got it up.

Until then, may the eyes of Odin be ever upon ye!

Hark!

I swear by the beard of Odin, that I am nearly done writing up the pattern for Thor (I received a specific request for him and was so tickled I put my dear Loki on the backburner for the time being)! I would have it up by the end of the week if it weren't for the fact that I am going on vacation to Moscow and Kaliningrad starting tomorrow. So...it'll be after that. But you can start breaking out your fantasy-tinged classic rock albums now, for Thor demands to be crocheted with T-Rex, Led Zeppelin, and Donovan in the background. I listened to Immigrant Song in particular a lot when I was working on him...

******

One important note: in working on my patterns, I noticed that I've been using the word "row" where I really should use "round" since these dolls are all knit in spiral crochet (no turning, no joining rounds). I've been doing amigurumi-influenced spiral crochet things for so long now that I forgot to be specific on that point. Sorry if there was any confusion!

Oh hi there...

I haven't forgotten about this blog, I'm just living in Russia for a year and it's taking all of my time and energy to stay sane. But I will post the completed patterns for Thor and Loki eventually! Also, I'm (very, very slowly) working on crocheting Sif and Beta-Ray Bill too. But mostly, I'm trying to both survive and enjoy Russian life and going to hella museums, monuments, cathedrals, teaching Russian kids English, trying to wrap my tongue around a language that loves three-consonant blends, playing the accordion, blah blah blah...

The least I can do is post some older photos here to fill space...

I purposefully didn't give Loki eyebrows since too much detail on a simple doll looks weird and I prefer them to have relatively neutral expressions to encourage the imagination...but I Photoshopped some in to enhance this picture.

And this one! And, yeah, I made three Lokis. College summers are conducive to that sort of thing.

By the by...I bought a pirated Russian copy of Thor almost as soon as I got here. The dub is pretty good. Loki sounds even more sinister and it cracks me up that his name pronounced in Russian (Лёки/Lyoki) sounds exactly like the Russian word for "easy" or "light," (лёгкий/lyokki) which when used about a person's character implies that they are a good, high-minded person. Heheheheheh.

Put your scheming caps on!

Before I bring you the patterns for Thor and Loki (I'm working on it, but it's slow going turning my notes and sketches into something other people can read...), here's a quickie project I whipped up on the side!

It's a Loki hat!

This cap began with a conundrum. I had planned to wear this costume

to the Avengers movie on opening night, but then I realized it was coming out in May, when I'll still be in Russia on my study abroad term. Packing a large green cape and a pair of "great Satanic horns" as Loki portrayer Tom Hiddleston calls them would be completely impractical. Also, costumed movie going is maybe not such an established thing in St. Petersburg as it is in Berkeley. Not that I'm opposed to trend setting, but...it's enough out of my comfort zone to be living there without also laughing in the face of cultural assimilation. So, I was faced with the need to come up with a subtler way to show support for my favorite character. Within a couple days, I'd come up with this hat, based on the design of the alternate helm Loki sometimes wears in the comics (when he's tired of banging those gigantic horns on door frames, I'm assuming). The result is casual enough to be worn year round, yet obviously a reference to my favorite Norse god/comic book villain. Also, it won't block the view of the moviegoers behind me the way more traditional Loki headwear would. And you thought your Jayne hat was cunning!

'

Needles: US size seven

Yarn: worsted weight in gold and dark green

Gauge: 1" = 7 rows of 6 stockinette stitches

Size: Fits loosely on a 22" circumference head; you may wish to knit in a tighter gauge or downsize as indicated in pattern for a snugger fit on a smaller (normal-sized...) head.

Cast on 102 stitches. Knit seven rows in 1x1 rib. Cut yarn leaving a long tail

Knit the next 32 rows following intarsia pattern in stockinette stitch (begin with a knit row).

Row 39: Knit 15, K2tog, repeat around

Row 40: Purl 14, P2tog, repeat around

Row 41: Knit 13, K2tog, repeat around

Row 42: Purl 12, P2tog, repeat around

Row 43: Knit 11, K2tog, repeat around

Row 44: Purl 10, P2tog, repeat around

Row 45: Knit 9, K2tog, repeat around

Row 46: Purl 8, P2tog, repeat around

Row 47: Knit 7, K2tog, repeat around

Row 48: Purl 6, P2tog, repeat around

Row 49: Knit 5, K2tog, repeat around

Row 50: Purl 4, P2tog, repeat around

Row 51: Knit 3, K2tog, repeat around

Row 52: Purl 2, P2tog, repeat around

Row 53: Knit 1, K2tog, repeat around

Row 54: P2tog, repeat around

Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail. Weave this tail through the six remained stitches and pull tight. Then use it to sew the center back seam, switching to the gold yarn tail to sew the seam at the rib part. With hat inside out, tie off all loose ends from colorwork , cutting ends short or weaving them in (you can also do this as you go).

This pattern is also available as a free PDF at https://acrobat.com/app.html#d=UOx1J3h*MC0-XZ5tmb0ECQ where the chart is bigger and there aren't all those weird font issues I seem to have with this blog...