Character Name: Michael Shelley | The Distortion
Fandom: The Magnus Archives [podcast]
Voiced By: Luke Booys
Yarn Used:
Shoes - CraftSmart Value - Reef
Trousers - Loops & Threads Soft Classic - Light Pink
Shirt - CraftSmart Value - Fiesta
Skin - Loops & Threads Classic - Peach
Hair - Loops & Threads Classic - Soft Yellow
Mouth - CraftSmart Value - White
Basic pattern here.
When I originally put Michael on this list, I was specifically thinking of the version from “Awake and Unafraid” by rebelwriter6561, but when I actually got to him I knew I had to do the actual Distortion version. So, sorry about that, maybe I’ll do the Michael Shelley version later…
Anyway. Michael was a lot of fun to do, for a lot of reasons, one of which is that I knew if he came out looking wonky I could point out that he was supposed to be distorted, so it was fine. Luckily for me, he came out exactly how I wanted! He varies from the base pattern as follows:
Shoes: Fan artists always draw him with long pointy shoes, and often floating or seeming to float, so I decided not to do the boots/shoes I usually do. I also decided that, since Michael belongs to the Spiral, I would, well, crochet him in a spiral rather than joining at the end of each row and chaining one! So, to start off each leg, I chained 2, then:
R1: 6sc in second ch from hook, tighten (6 sc).
R2: 2dc in each st around (12 dc).
R3: Sc in front loop of each st around (12 sc).
R4-7: Sc in each st around (12 sc).
R8: (Sc in first st, dc in next st) around (6 sc, 6 dc).
Trousers: I mostly did these the normal way, except that they were only 12 stitches around rather than 15. For the first round after joining the trouser color to the shoe color, I did the inverse of R8 (dc in first st, sc in next st), then just did straight sc all the way up until I decided they were long enough. I didn’t count rounds really. I wanted it to be a little uncanny.
Shirt: I was really, really, REALLY excited about this. I wasn’t sure how a variegated yarn would work up in this case, but evidently having made him, essentially, six stitches skinnier than usual at the start made this yarn spiral perfectly. I did the tunic exactly how I usually do the torsos, just skinnier; the only other variant, apart from continuing in the spiral pattern, is that I did visible decreases instead of invisible ones. They’re still not super noticeable, but I figured for the Distortion, it would make sense to have these jarring “wait, he visibly got smaller there” stitches.
Head: I did his head in fours instead of sixes to make it longer and skinnier, and I think that worked out well. I also did his nose as a cluster stitch rather than a puff stitch—(yo, draw loop through st, yo, draw loop through first 2 loops on hook) three times, then yo and draw through all loops on the hook—and I think it made it enough of a noticeable variant from usual that it was good. I also discovered that crocheting in a spiral rather than the join-and-chain method, while it does eliminate the ladder at the back of the scalp, makes the rows just uneven enough that it’s slightly noticeable the eyes don’t line up. Which, again, works well for the Distortion. I also didn’t do his scalp in the hair color, but as thick as his hair is, you can’t really tell.
Mouth: I wanted an uncanny valley “too big for his face” kind of grin, so I doubled the yarn and knotted it, then embroidered what I hope came out looking like sharp teeth. I don’t know why I always headcanon Michael with sharp teeth. Maybe it’s the fanart. Anyway, it’s sufficiently unsettling, I think.
Arms: Look at these hands. I am so damn proud of these hands. They’re different, partly by accident and partly by design, but that really adds to the feel, doesn’t it? The pattern was more based on vibes than actual counting necessarily, but basically, I chained 4, turned, sc in second st from hook, sc in next two chs, and then made the fingers by chaining until they felt long enough, turning, and slip stitching down the inside of the chain until I reached the foundation stitches, then added another sc and repeated. Pretty sure it was 4-6-7-9 for one hand, but I didn’t really pay attention to what I did for the other.
I then joined the shirt yarn to the foundation chain, 3sc in first st, sc in next st, 3sc in next st, sc in next st, for a total of 8 sc around to form the cuffs. Then I just…spiraled up, eight stitches at a time, no increases or decreases, until the arms were long enough. I attached them slightly lower on the body than I normally would, but only slightly.