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

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 6 (The Series Finale), 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

Week Five

Game of Thrones is over. Finished. No more new stories about our favorite characters to look forward to (well, except for the ones George R. R. Martin will tell in the book(s) that will complete the novel series).

I haven’t read the books yet. I have all of the published books sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me. But, I wanted to watch the show before reading them. This is an odd sentiment for me, usually I like to read the book before watching any kind of visual adaptation. Therefore, I have enjoyed the series in and of itself without having the author’s version playing tug of war with the TV show version in my head.

However, I don’t typically have much of a struggle in that area anyway as I never go into a TV show or movie expecting (or even wanting?) it to be everything the book was word for word. It’s unrealistic, first of all. It’s just not do-able. Especially for authors like Martin (or Stephen King — and oh yeah, there’s a can of worms the little internet birdies love to fight over).

I’m not worried that I won’t enjoy the books now that the series has concluded. I will. As their own entity, entirely separate from the show.

I, personally, think that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (along with everyone else involved with the making of Game of Thrones for HBO) have done a stellar job!

Did I like every story arc? Meh. There were a few along the way I didn’t love. But, there were plenty I did get very invested in, and even some I wasn’t into in the beginning that grew on me over time.

So, final thoughts. I wish Varys hadn’t been executed. His story was one that didn’t grab me in the beginning. But, I came to love his character and his story very much! Sad to see him go. But, wow! Death by dragon breath… what a dramatic way to go if one has to go!

Tyrion Lannister is another example of a character that grew on me. Initially, my interest was captured by other characters’ stories (Jon Snow’s, Ned Stark’s, Arya and Sansa Stark’s, among others). But, as the seasons of the show progressed I became more and more interested in his character.

And Dany. Tragic. Just tragic in all the best senses of the word how her relative innocence at the start of our journey together with her shifted through the years and then semmingly so very sharply in this final season as she finally was about to claim her hard-fought for victory. As I mentioned, perhaps, in a previous post, I’d seen the flashes of her character along the way that hinted at potential madness, but hoped against all hope that the goodness of the people helping her to reclaim her family legacy would make the difference in how she progressed toward that goal. And I think they definitely did. She suffered too many devastating losses too closely together near the end of her journey, though. And I was sure it would be too great a toll for her to bear and recover emotionally from. So, as tragic as her end was, it was pretty darn perfect in my opinion. Great story-telling, even when it’s not where many wanted it to go. Can’t all have the happy ending, dear GoT fans.

I think this is why the fans that are upset enough to start a petition to try to get HBO to remake the final season irks me so much. Number 1, it was an awesome show start to finish. The writers cannot (nor should they be expected to) cater to everyone’s desires for what direction the show or its characters take. Number 2, I think it would have been a great injustice to the material and the actors to end the show by putting a fairy tale ending where everyone lives happily ever after on it. GoT was always known for it’s unexpected and shocking content. So, kudos to the creators and all involved for trying to wrap up some of the most important storylines, even though I think the show could have easily gone quite a few more seasons doing just that, wrapping up and leaving behind all the many, many stories of all the different people, locations, and happenings that we would all love to know about.

Too many characters to do a blurb on them all. That would be a blog series all its own. But, my personal conclusion is that this is easily the TV series that will top my list of favorites forever. It will be one that I re-watch and love all over again for all of its triumphs and all of its tragedies alike for time immemorial. I will, of course, move forward and read/watch new stories and love them — but, I think for many years to come Game of Thrones will serve as a measuring stick (however subconscious) that future entertainment will be measured by, in my mind.

Now, on to the books. I can’t wait to revisit some storylines (and discover others that never made it to the HBO screen)!

Week Six Progress

So, as I predicted, I was not able to finish the Marinade Designs Ice & Embers Shawlette GoT KAL by the time the finale aired. If you look to the upper left of the shawl, that bit of blue yarn sticking out is where I started this week’s work. Not a lot of progress. However, I did finish up Section 2 and start into Section 3 of the shawlette, the larger, all blue section that has the dragon scale design. And, as I have never done an intricate knitting pattern like this before, I did have some issues with following the more complicated pattern stitch combinations at first.

Week Six Progress

I had to watch some YouTube tutorial videos to learn, for example, how to do this stitch combination: sl1-k2tog-psso. That means to slip a stitch from one needle to the next, then knit the next 2 stitches together, and then go back and pass that first slipped stitch forward over the 2 that were knitted together. It’s not difficult, just took me a while to get comfortable with it.

I somehow got off pattern during the first row of the dragon scale lace section that included these stitch combinations and had to painstakingly (and oh, so slowly) undo the whole row of stitches at least twice to try to get it right. And, let me tell you, I am not experienced enough to just remove my needles altogether, frog back in the work, and then pick up the stitches again. It would be so much quicker if I could. But, I’m not to that level of proficiency yet. So, for me the work was painstaking and so very slow to go back and undo stitches one by one back to where my mistakes were so that I could fix them and then move on! That took me a lot of time.

It has been a challenge. I have only been knitting for a few years, and mostly stuck to fairly simple designs. So, moving into the dragon scale lace section has been a learning experience for me.

Week Six – the open spaces created to define the dragon scale design

That said, I am still very much enjoying the work as I progress ever closer toward the end of that project. And I find myself mulling over the show as I do it, which is very nice! I’m learning and getting better and now (6 rows into this last section of the pattern) I’m finally getting the hang of it. I expect the rest of the pattern to go much more smoothly and faster, too.

So, look for one more article in this series in about a week or two. I can’t wait to finish this project, not only to see it all done but also because I’m itching to get started on another Game of Thrones KAL from the same designer that she created for a previous season of GoT.

It’s the Stormborn Shawl, inspired by the character of Daenerys Targaryen and released in 2014 during a previous season of the show. It looks like it features a very similar (if not the same) dragon scale design element. I’m currently finding online retailers from which to buy the yarn for this project.

I’m very sorry that Game of Thrones is over. It’s been a great ride and I’ve enjoyed every single season of the show. I am looking forward to new projects that are in development at HBO set in the Game of Thrones landscape created by George R. R. Martin. I’m really hoping they create one that I’ve heard mentioned that is a prequel to GoT and focuses on events long before there was a Westeros or any of the powerful houses to rule it.

At least, for now, I still get to look forward to watching the HBO Documentary, “Game of Thrones: The Last Watch” later tonight (all about making the final season of the show). It’ll “almost” be like being back in the GoT world for a little while.

Are you looking forward to any of the HBO shows reportedly in development that are Game of Thrones-inspired? If you could pitch a show idea to HBO, what would you like to see — Arya’s adventures west of Westeros where the maps don’t go, how and why the children of the forest created the first White Walker? Even if what you’d like to see onscreen hasn’t been mentioned anywhere yet, I’m interested to know!

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About Wendy

SAHM of 1 school age kid, two adult kids (my 26 yr old daughter & 19 year old son) and one middle-age kid (the hubby). Avid animal lover who cares daily for our dogs, cats, and chickens. My MIL says I need a cow for fresh milk; I say No Way!!! LOL Hobbies include listening to music, reading, writing, cooking/baking, canning foods like pickles and green beans, making jams and jellies, crafting, knitting, crocheting, and cross-stitching. I'm a laid-back mama who prefers not to micro-manage the lives of my family (though I feel sometimes like they micro-manage mine as my schedule mainly consists of coordinating all of their schedules). But, I love it and wouldn't have it any other way.

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