Knitting Nerdcast: A Handmaid’s Knit

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In the first-ever episode of the Knitting Nerdcast podcast, Andrea Lotz and I nerd out about knitwear we’ve been noticing in the TV shows we’ve been watching recently.

I travel down the rabbit hole about the knitting I’ve noticed in the Hulu show A Handmaid’s Tale, which includes a red knitted scarf worn by the main character and the fact that that character’s foil indeed knits.

Andrea nerds out to me about the knits, knitting scenes, and a weird waterproofing ritual that all come up in the show Outlander. 

In the episode, we mention several things that require a look-see. The main character from A Handmaid’s Tale, Offred (aka June) wears this red scarf during the colder months: 

I mention during my nerdery that I bothered to write out what the pattern for this scarf might look like if it were handknitted. As promised: 

Offred’s Scarf Knitting Pattern 

Using size 0000 80” cir needles and the longtail CO method, CO 10,000 sts. Row 1: *K2, p2, rep from * to end. Rep Row 1 forty times. BO all sts. Praised be. 

So, that’s obviously not a real knitting pattern, but you get the idea. 

The other note about the show that I nerd out about is another character, Serena Joy, and all the scenes in which she is knitting. Here is a clip of her knitting: 

This is the scene Andrea and I watch during the episode where Serena Joy uses her knitting as a tool of power against Offred:

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Outlander Inspiration

Moving onto Andrea’s knitting nerdery, here is a crazy inspirational Pinterest board that features Outlander inspired knits – and some other links!

Buzzfeed List of Outlander Knits

More from Pinterest

Outlander Patterns from Handy Little Me

And lastly, the waterproofing Andrea mentions is a part of “waulking” – check out the history of that here.

Thanks for checking out our new knitting podcast! If you enjoyed it, be sure to subscribe, review, or share with a friend! 

Happy nerding out, 

Hannah & Andrea 

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