Winter Is Here – My First Game of Thrones KAL (Week Five)

Winter Is Here - My First Game of Thrones KAL

Disclaimer: If you haven’t watched Game of Thrones through the current episode, Season 8 Episode 5, then you may not want to continue reading this article. There may be spoilers contained within. Also, this is not a sponsored post. I am participating in a Marinade Designs GoT KAL at my own expense and just want to share my progress with our readers. No compensation is being received from the KAL designer.

Previous GoT Show Thoughts/KAL Progress Posts:

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

This week has been a pretty hectic one. School is coming close to the end for the year, so there are after-school band practices for my daughter’s upcoming concert, there have been doctor appointments, and my mom’s 70th birthday, and a wedding for the daughter of one of my husband’s friends going on — all right on top of Mother’s Day last weekend.

So, I’ve not had a lot of time to just sit and knit. Still I am just about done with Section 2 of the Marinade Designs Ice & Embers Shawlette (Game of Thrones Final Season KAL). So, I’ll take it.

I’m pretty sure (pretty absolutely sure) that I made a mistake in the first blue stripe of Section 2 and made the peekaboo holes too far apart. But, I was loathe to backtrack to do it the right way. I liked the way it looked and the stitch counts come out just right. So, onward.

Here’s how the asymmetrical shawlette is shaping up as I come to the end of Section 2. Section three is completely knit in the dark blue yarn and will feature a dragon scale lace pattern. Looking forward to it!

Marinade Designs Game of Thrones Season 8 Ice and Embers Shawl KAL-week five
Week Five Progress
Marinade Designs Game of Thrones Season 8 Ice and Embers Shawl KAL-week five
Week Five Progress
Week Five Progress

Man, I’ve been procrastinating about writing this week’s article, because episode 5 of GoT really has had my head spinning. I wasn’t really expecting Dany to lose it on King’s Landing like that. I did pick up on all the little hints of potential madness going all the way back to the first season of the show. Like when she watched (insisted on watching!) her brother die by golden crowning. And when she roasted the Harpys. There were other moments.

But, I really thought she’d been keeping her head together pretty well until after the battle at Winterfell. She didn’t get to be the one to save everyone from the threat of annihilation (thanks, Arya! LOL), everyone heaped praise on Jon while she was largely alone during the feast, she had just discovered Jon is really a Targaryen and thus a threat to her claim to the Iron Throne, and homeboy is not exactly on the romance train with her anymore now that he’s weirded out by their family relationship. AND she is still suffering acutely from the loss of most of her beloved Dothraki and the cruel dispatching of Missandei by Queen Cersei. Plus, now she’s lost the second of her three dragons, her babies.

All the foreshadowing I needed of her potential mind snap was when she told Jon she has no love here in Westeros. We all need that. It’s what makes life worth anything, right?

So, I was surprised but not really surprised to see her use Drogon to honor Missandei’s last word (and avenge the death of Rhaegal) perhaps a little too literally. Plus, it’s not like it really hurt Cersei to see King’s Landing and all its residents roasted and/or crushed to death. She doesn’t care about them, she only gets emotional when it becomes clear that she will lose this battle and not only die herself, but her unborn child will also die. Outside of her personal sphere of existence, she couldn’t give a crap how anyone else fares in this war. I kinda felt like Dany shoulda known that and thus limited her total destruction bid to Cersei’s armed forces, the scorpions, the Red Keep and Cersei, Qyburn, and the Mountain.

Ahh, the Mountain. And the Hound. Cleganebowl! It was pretty flippin’ epic. Start to finish, the fiery, fiery finish.

I still don’t know how I feel about Arya’s sudden turnabout upon the Hound’s advice that she should give up killing Cersei and go home or else surely perish. I kinda feel like Arya woulda been just fine with her life coming to an end if it meant also taking out the last name on her list. But, if anyone could’ve had that side convo with her, I guess the Hound was the right choice for it. We’ll see where she goes from here. Many people think Dany is now on Arya’s kill list for what she did to King’s Landing, and I have to say I cannot disagree with fans on that point. It’s gonna be fascinating to see where that story arc goes!

As I belatedly send this article to publish on the blog, there is only a few minutes to go until the series finale of GoT airs on HBO and my husband and I have just finished re-watching episode 5 in preparation for this event. How do you think the series will wind up? Who do you believe (or hope? or fear?) will ultimately sit the Iron Throne when it’s all said and done?

Winter Is Here – My First Game of Thrones KAL (Week Three)

Winter Is Here - My First Game of Thrones KAL

Disclaimer: If you haven’t watched Game of Thrones through the current episode, Season 8 Episode 3, then you may not want to continue reading this article. There may be spoilers contained within. Also, this is not a sponsored post. I am participating in a Marinade Designs GoT KAL at my own expense and just want to share my progress with our readers. No compensation is being received from the KAL designer.

Previous GoT Show Thoughts/KAL Progress Posts:

Week One

Week Two

So, I’m not sure if I mentioned in my previous couple of posts about my participation in the Marinade Designs Game of Thrones Ice & Embers Shawlette Knit Along, that my household has been dealing with illness the last several weeks. But, I feel like I should maybe touch on that because it’s been an ordeal, and I’ve not gotten as much done on the KAL as I might normally have done.

Three weeks ago, my husband and I came down with a nasty stomach virus. We stayed away from the kids as much as possible and thought they’d escaped it, but at the end of the week our daughter was down with it too. Thank goodness it was after school on Friday so she had the entire weekend to recover from it and didn’t miss any school. But, literally, right on the heels of that (after I’d already wondered if death might be preferable to being that sick) I was slammed with a massive sinus infection. And I do mean slammed. Like a Mack truck just plowed me over. It’s been awful.

I don’t hardly ever get sick with these kinds of illnesses, so when I do it’s just so aggravating to me. Still, I’m not a run-to-the-doctor kinda girl, so I usually just try to dose up on OTC meds and suffer through it. I might still be doing that, except my son came down with a sinus infection, too. So, last week on Thursday I took him and myself to urgent care and got us both some strong antibiotics to knock this stuff out. It’s working, but we’re only a little over halfway through the antibiotic regimen and still suffering somewhat.

It’s clearing out the infection, but man … these meds are just zonking me out. They make me want to sleep, like, all the time; make me woozy and a bit nauseous; and they are taking my normal appetite for food away. Which is a conundrum because they told me that we need to eat some food with the antibiotics to prevent stomach upset. So, yeah, it’s been a struggle to force myself to eat when I take the meds, and then try to remember to eat in between doses too because I just don’t want food.

On the upside, I think I may have lost, like, 10-15 pounds through all this. Harsh way to do it, but there I am. LOL

Game of Thrones Season 8
A pic I took of GoT Season 8, Episode 3 projected on a wall in the studio of my husband’s business during a viewing party with friends.

Anyhoo, now that you’re good and bored. Game of Thrones. Battle of Winterfell. O – M – freakin’ – G! I don’t think I have ever vacillated on the precipice of emotional breakdown ever before in my life as I did the week before this big, mega battle for humanity episode! I couldn’t wait for it, but I was afraid to see who would die in the battle, too. Like, cover-my-eyes-and-peek-through-my-fingers-almost-DIDN’T-want-to-watch-it afraid.

I was afraid the Night King might be too strong for humanity to survive it and worried about what comes next if they did somehow manage to vanquish the seemingly endless undead army. And I just knew the NK would raise the Winterfell dead at some point. Just knew it. And I wasn’t disappointed when he ramped up the terror by doing just that.

My husband owns a small media production business. Quite a few of his employees are GoT fans, too. So, for this epic battle episode several of us got together and watched “The Long Night” with a kick-ass audio system and the show projected on the big white wall in the shooting studio. It was so much fun!

Spoiler Alert: They did survive. Arya. I knew it would be her. I just did. She is far and away my favorite character in the show and seeing the looks on the faces of everyone at Winterfell realizing what a badass she has grown into was just … priceless. So satisfying. My second favorite moment in the show was little Lady Mormont vs. the Giant. YASSSS!!!!! I spent the whole episode with my hand clutching my throat. So epic!

Other heart-pounding moments: when Melisandre gave hope to us all, but then the flaming scimitars of the Dothraki horde advance army were snuffed out and darkness swallowed them seemingly whole; when the undead army flung themselves on the fire trench and swarmed the outer walls of Winterfell; the beautiful dragon fight scenes; when the Night King emerged from the dragon fire blast that Dany hoped would end him; and when Theon gave his very last breath to the defense of Bran. Wow. So many great moments. Too many to list, thank goodness we can all go back and rewatch the series as many times as we want to!

But, now. The last three episodes to wrap up the series are a total question mark. Can what’s left of the survivors of the Battle of Winterfell defeat what awaits them in King’s Landing? How will Jon and Dany settle the issue of who will rule if they can defeat Cersei? Who will be the one to take Cersei down, because so many characters deserve the honor! Just a few of the biggest questions, so many more minor ones that must be examined to decide how the new landscape of the kingdoms and the survivors will be laid out. With so many great houses decimated (the Mormonts, the Umbers, the Tyrells — so many others [some deservedly so, like the Freys]) how does the kingdom hierarchy reorganize itself?

Since I’ve spent most of this season so far being sick, I’ve not spent as much time on the Marinade Designs GoT Ice & Embers Shawlette KAL as I would have liked (also had Easter in there, so I made my daughter a few household items that took some time away from this, too).

Game of Thrones - Marinade Designs Ice & Embers Shawl KAL

But, I’m not totally discouraged with my progress. This pic shows how much I’ve completed so far. In previous pictures I’ve tucked the dark blue strands that needed to be woven in under the shawl when taking photos so that you could see the work and not be distracted by all of that. This week, before starting to knit more on the shawlette, I took some time to weave in all the dark blue strands that were hanging out there on the work I’d completed to that point (during the first two weeks).

The new ones you see displayed out to the right side of the work here are representative of the new rows of work I’ve done this week. I think I’ve only maybe completed 30-35 new rows of work on it.

So, slow going. But, I’ll get there. As I continually feel better hopefully the work will go faster and easier.

Game of Thrones - Marinade Designs Ice & Embers Shawl KAL

I’ve been too sick to go to Ravelry and visit the page for this KAL to see what progress pics other knitters are posting to show their work. But, I will try to get to that this week. I’ll probably end up kicking my own butt for not being as far along as I think I should have been. But, whaddaya gonna do? Just keep moving, that’s what.

I will probably need additional time after the show is over to finish, but I’ll still come back and chat with you all about it and show the progress until it’s done.

I’m definitely relieved that the threat of the Night King is over. But, still filled with anticipation to find out how everything else works out. What was your favorite moment in the Battle of Winterfell? What do you think happens now?

Winter Is Here – My First Game of Thrones KAL (Week Two)

Winter Is Here - My First Game of Thrones KAL-Marinade Designs Game of Thrones Season 8 Ice & Embers Shawl KAL

Disclaimer: If you haven’t watched Game of Thrones through the current episode, Season 8 Episode 2, then you may not want to continue reading this article. There may be spoilers contained within. Also, this is not a sponsored post. I am participating in a Marinade Designs GoT KAL at my own expense and just want to share my progress with our readers. No compensation is being received from the KAL designer.

Previous GoT Show Thoughts/KAL Progress Posts:

Week One

So, winter is here. The Night King and his undead army loom large on the horizon. And I know many people have expressed some concerns about the first two episodes of this final season being slow. Well, I for one, am really digging all the characters coming together again. Many of them have been flung to the far reaches of the landscape for multiple seasons and have gone through a lot of growing and changing. So, I think it’s good to see them come back together again.

If you’re looking for an in-depth analysis, this ain’t the place. I love the show, but I certainly do not portend to be the most knowledgeable. For crying out loud, I haven’t even read the books! Not that I won’t. I have them. But, I didn’t hear about them in time to delve in before the TV series started. So, I decided to wait a while before reading them so that I wouldn’t get the book events confused with the series events, since they quite often can differ.

Now that the end of the series is near, I will be picking up the books and having a grand old time rediscovering the characters all over again.

So, what do you all think of the final season so far? Brienne got knighted! Yay! Jamie was forgiven (sort of?) for tossing Bran out the window. (Meh. Ok.) Arya became a woman, all the way. (Some viewers are confused by this turn of events — and I mean, it was a tiny bit awkward, I guess. But, in my view if you are developed enough to become a world-class assassin, you go get yours girl!) And Pod can SING; who knew???

Sansa’s backbone is steel in the face of Dany’s thirst for the throne. (I always knew it would be.) And Dany is …finally… thrown off kilter by learning Jon has a stronger claim to the throne than she does, should he choose to pursue it. Confusion isn’t becoming to Dany as a potential kingdom ruler, but they do love each other so if they survive the Night King (and Cersei) I think they’ll work it out to rule together. I really do.

Tyrion is clever and intelligent. But, annoying, too. Let the Night King have him. (gasp, my husband would be mortified to hear that. He loves Tyrion!) And then there’s Theon. Theon, Theon, Theon… I’ve loved him, I’ve hated him, and I’ve pitied him. But, he’s here to defend Winterfell (after everything he did to destroy it) and I think I like him all the more for it.

I’m totally with many others when it comes to Bran. He’s creepy now. Way creepy. And NO ONE uses his gifts in a way that is helpful or strategic or intelligent. Like, no one. Maybe he creeps them out, too, but damn, dude! The Night King. Human annihilation. The end of the Seven Kingdoms as we know it. Get over yourselves people and use this guy to your advantage!!!

I can not wait for the battle to end all battles to begin in the next episode. Who will rise to the occasion and who will wimp out? One theory I’ve not heard mentioned is one that has crossed my mind a time or two. Will Jamie deserting Cersei change her mind about joining the battle? Will she ride in to lend her army to everyone at the last minute like the Knights of the Vale did in the Battle of the Bastards? I doubt it. But, it could happen, right?

I don’t even want to think about who’s going to die and who (if anyone) might survive. It’s massively overwhelming to think that even if our heroes win the battle and vanquish the Night King and his army, the landscape of the power dynamic is likely to be forever changed by which people survive.

So, I (like every other GoT fan) wait with bated breath to see what happens next. I have high hopes and expectations for the remaining episodes.

Marinade Designs Game of Thrones Season 8 Ice & Embers Shawl KAL

On to the knit along I’ve been participating in that is themed for the final season of GoT. It’s the Ice & Embers Shawl from Marinade Designs. The above pic is from the article I posted last week about episode 1 of GoT and shows the very beginning little bit I’d completed of the shawl. It’s not much, but I had to do some prep work to ball up the yarn from hanks, knit the gauge swatch to make sure I had chosen the correct size knitting needles, etc.

Also, during that week, I’d been dealing with having the stomach flu. So, I’d been pretty well sidelined in terms of having energy and frame of mind to get much done on it.

This past week, immediately on the heals of getting over the stomach flu, I was slammed with a fierce sinus infection. I mean, come… on… ! For someone who doesn’t get physically ill much, this has been a crappy month healthwise for me.

Still, I did manage to get some more work done on the shawl.

Marinade Designs Game of Thrones Season 8 Ice & Embers Shawl KAL-week two
Marinade Designs Game of Thrones Season 8 Ice & Embers Shawl, week two progress

Even with being sick and also working on a few handmade knitting and crochet items for my daughter for Easter gifts, I’m pretty pleased with the progress I made overall.

Marinade Designs Game of Thrones Season 8 Ice & Embers Shawl KAL-week two

I really love the edging of the shawl that is created with Make 1 Left stitches. I think it really sets it off with this line of V’s along the edge like that.

Still got a long way to go on the shawl, but it’s introducing me to a new project type and some new stitch skills. Plus, it’s just fun. And I think that’s the most important thing.

So, share! What are your thoughts about the final season of Game of Thrones so far? How do you think it’ll all turn out? What fun activities are you doing to make the most of it? Are you crafting GoT-themed items, attending GoT watch parties, gnawing your fingers to the bone in anticipation? Let us all know!!!

Winter Is Here – My First Game of Thrones KAL (Week One)

Winter Is Here - My First Game of Thrones KAL (Week One)

Disclaimer: If you haven’t watched Game of Thrones through the current episode, Season 8 Episode 1, then you may not want to continue reading this article. There may be spoilers contained within. Also, this is not a sponsored post. I am participating in a Marinade Designs GoT KAL at my own expense and just want to share my progress with our readers. No compensation is being received from the KAL designer.

Game of Thrones is back! Finally! I know I’m not alone in my excitement. And I’m not alone in my complicated feelings about this being the final season, either. I don’t want it to end. But, at least this is a world I can revisit any time I wish to rewatch the series or read the books. So, there is that.

I am a crafter. During previous seasons of this show I’ve come across crochet or knit alongs themed after the show. I’ve been wanting to participate in one forever. But, timing … sometimes I kinda suck at it. I always come across these things after the season is already started or too close beforehand to prepare the materials to do so.

This year, however, I stumbled across some information about an upcoming knit along (KAL) from Marinade Designs themed for the final season. I was really excited because I had several weeks to get prepared for it. And I figured, it’s now or never, ya know?

Winter Is Here - My First Game of Thrones KAL (Week One)

So, this is it. The Ice & Embers Shawlette Game of Thrones 2019 KAL. I’m anticipating a fun time for several reasons:

  1. It’s a fun activity to stretch out the GoT fun during the final season of the show. I don’t work on it during the show, since I want to focus all of my attention on the action, obviously! But, as the husband and I are anxiously waiting for the show to begin on Sunday evenings, this will be a great way to get a little head start on the action. Then, I can also work on it during the week between shows when I have time.
  2. I’ve never participated in a KAL before. Not really. I started one once but didn’t get far at all before life got in the way and I also got a little bored, I guess. I’m looking forward to getting online with the group of other crafters also participating in this fun activity.
  3. I’ve been crocheting for 25+ years, but have only been knitting for the last few years. I’ve knitted a few scarves and a couple of afghans, but have never made a shawl. Ever. Not in crochet or knit. So, new type of project, new skills, and a fun and memorable finished item to wear.
Winter Is Here - My First Game of Thrones KAL (Week One)

Of course, I’m not very far along since the season just started. But, still, what you see here is several hours worth of work.

The yarn came in hanks, so I had to untwist and wind it into balls. It can be a fussy process and needs to be done carefully. I found myself pondering previous seasons of GoT as I worked on it: wondering how the truth of Jon’s parentage would affect his budding relationship with Daenerys; with Sansa, Bran, and Arya; as well as with himself, ultimately. I mean, talk about a change of perspective on your place in the world! I wondered how all of the characters from the different houses would be able to work together to defeat The Night King and his undead army. I wondered how Daenerys’ heart will break to see her precious dragon that the Night King killed and then resurrected for his army. I wondered when everyone would realize that Arya had become such an accomplished little assassin.

Too many story arcs to touch on, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how this final season will tie up all the loose ends and if viewers will be satisfied with how it all comes to a close.

Winter Is Here - My First Game of Thrones KAL (Week One)

So here’s how I spent the last couple of hours before the premiere episode this week. I gathered the pattern I’d printed, the yarn, my adjustable knitting needles set, some scissors and a pencil. And of course, a snack and a glass of Diet Coke, I mean what’s crafting without that?!

I don’t think I’ve ever done a gauge swatch for any other project before. But, it states in the instructions that it’s important for this shawl. So, I knitted up the recommended amount of stitches and rows for the gauge swatch first. It turned out perfect. So, all good.

Winter Is Here - My First Game of Thrones KAL (Week One)

After unraveling the yarn from the gauge swatch I began to actually work the pattern. The Ice & Embers Shawl is of an asymmetrical design. It looks really pretty.

I watched a couple of YouTube tutorials on how to Make 1 Left and slipping a stitch purlwise with the yarn in front because I’d never done that in any pattern before.

I was movin’ along pretty well until I finished that first dark section and went back to the lighter color. I think I did something wrong. There was something off about the side. It wasn’t straight, it sort of dipped inward a bit. So, I tried to figure out where I went wrong, but wasn’t confident that I could back up and fix it. So, I ended up unraveling the whole thing and starting from scratch.

By the end of the evening, this picture shows how far I got. This is 35 rows of work. I wondered if I should have gotten further, but once I thought about it all told including this bit of finished work, the original attempt that I undid to start over, and the gauge swatch I completed before starting the project totalled 93 rows of work. The rows are short, but still… that’s a lot! And aside from a few minor mistakes, it went pretty well. So, I’m satisfied with myself so far.

Winter Is Here - My First Game of Thrones KAL (Week One)

I’m particularly excited for the last part of the shawlette because it features a stitch pattern the designer calls “Dragon Scale Lace,” that’s the larger end of the shawlette that is all the darker color. It looks so pretty and I can’t wait to try it!

If you are a knitter and would like to get in on this KAL, you can head over to the Ravelry page of the designer, Kristen Ashbaugh-Helmreich, and get started on one for yourself! It’s not too late to get involved.

There is a yarn kit that is recommended in the pattern that was dyed especially for this KAL. I didn’t end up going that route. I really thought about purchasing the recommended yarn, but I already had two hanks of really gorgeous blue yarn in Faded Ink from Miss Babs Inspired by Nature that I got from my Yarnbox subscription. I’d been hanging onto it until I found the perfect project.

I didn’t have a yarn that was similar to the lighter color recommended for the shawl, so I googled “Game of Thrones yarn” and found a company named Destination Yarn that had a selection of hand-dyed yarns themed after the show. I chose to purchase a colorway called “The Wall.” It has more turquoise in it, which is a favorite color of mine. I hope it works. So far it definitely has more bright color than the pattern-recommended yarn.

But, I’m committed now. So, onward!

I’m looking forward to coming back here every week and talking about what’s going on in GoT world and sharing the progress on my shawlette with all of you lovely readers.

What are you looking forward to most from this season of Game of Thrones? Have any show theories you’d like to share with us? Let’s gab in the comments!!!