Well, those of you following me have probably noticed a bit of radio silence on my end for the past couple of weeks. In one of my earlier posts I alluded to the fact that I was moving and… Ta-da! Move accomplished!
The only downside is that all the running around associated with the move leaves little time for my hobbies (i.e. writing and knitting). If you’ve seen any of my recent Facebook posts you’ll know I’m already brainstorming how to knit an Abe Sapien cosplay for when Doug Jones comes to Ottawa Comiccon in May – but I can’t actually start on anything while some of my cosplay tools are still packed away in boxes.
Between all the packing and unpacking of my cosplay supplies – disposing of cosplays I’ll never use again and carefully packing the ones I plan to re-wear in the future – this got me thinking… I frequently get asked why I started doing full knit cosplays so I figured I’d officially share the story with everyone:
Years ago I was suffering from really bad depression and anxiety and I was eliminating all of my hobbies one by one. I told myself I would stop cosplaying because my heart just wasn’t in it anymore. But I kept putting together simple little cosplays here and there. Finally, in 2013, I decided I would do one last one and go out with a bang – I wanted to cosplay a character I had bought supplies for years ago but never used: Crazy Quilt from MAR. If you’re unfamiliar with the character – as you most likely are – the best way to describe her is that she is a weaponized rag doll. So I knew how to put together a dress, but I had no idea what to do for her hair. Then it hit me.
Ever since I was 7 my Nana got me into corking/spool knitting – the kind of knitting where you simply wind the yarn around 4 pegs until you have one useless tube of yarn – and when I was a teenager I realized you could get larger looms with more pegs to make interesting things like hats and scarves. That was the only thing I could think of to come up with a wig for this cosplay. So for Crazy Quilt’s hair I made myself a hat and tied individual hairs on it.
At Otakuthon that year I entered what I thought would be my last masquerade so that I could properly enjoy what I thought would be my last cosplay. I entered simply because I thought that the dress I made was the best sewing work I had ever done. What I didn’t realize is that it was my wig that would win me an award in the Journeyman division. I was stunned. The judges were impressed with my wig and one of them told me to keep knitting because she enjoyed seeing knit costume pieces at conventions since it’s not something you see that often.
So much for quitting cosplay. This drove me to challenge myself. I thought: can I one-up myself? How much yarn can I put into one cosplay? Can I knit the whole thing?
Surprisingly, it didn’t take as much brainstorming as I thought. I realized pretty quickly that non-human characters would probably be my best bet for full yarn cosplays because that way I could completely cover my face (it has been pointed out to me – and I most certainly agree – that if I ever wore a flesh-toned yarn mask it would be beyond creepy). Thankfully, my favourite characters in any series typically tend to be weird looking and/or non-human and/or blue.
And the rest is history.
Now that my “Summer of Doctor Who” is over and I’ve had my fun cosplaying the various incarnations of The Doctor, it’s time to get back to the big stuff. I have wanted to do a full yarn Abe Sapien ever since I started doing full yarn cosplays and now with Doug Jones coming to Ottawa Comiccon I have the perfect opportunity. So keep an eye on my Yarn Monster Cosplay Facebook page because the moment my cosplay supplies are unpacked and ready to go I’ll be starting some serious knitting! Get ready cause Yarn Abe will be making his debut in May 2018!
