How To Knit Ryan Gosling’s Sweater from Project Hail Mary

If you’re a science fiction geek you may already be familiar with the movie Project Hail Mary, based on the book of the same name and starring Ryan Gosling.

What you might not have seen if you haven’t watched the movie yet is his character’s amazing knit cardigan, featuring fox faces on the fronts and full bodies of foxes on the back, as well as paw prints along the edges.

It turns out the original design is a vintage Mary Maxim knitting pattern, which originally featured wolves instead of foxes.

Chris Miller, one of the directors of Project Hail Mary, said the foxes were an important choice for the character, whose clothes are often marked with personal history (and sciencey dad jokes).

Mary Maxim has released a kit for making the fox version of the cardigan, which has already sold out, but there is a wait list for future kits.

The project uses bulky weight yarn and is considered for intermediate knitters. I assume it uses intarsia rather than duplicate stitch for the foxes (Tom Daley made a version that uses duplicate stitch you can see on his Instagram).

The kit offers two sizes, with a chest measurement of 38-40 inches or 44-45.5 inches (that’s 96.5-101.6 cm or 111.76-115.5 cm). The pattern and yarn are included but not the zipper you would need to complete the project as it is shown in the movie.

You can also buy the pattern not as a kit for the original wolf cardigan sweater. The original was published in the 1950s (the original pamphlet is shown on the pattern page and it is fantastic) and uses bulky weight yarn. It comes in four sizes.

This looks like a fun project and the knitting without the colorwork is probably pretty easy. If you make one I’d love to know how it turns out!

[Photo: Mary Maxim]

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

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