Character Name: Mistholme/The Audio Tour Guide
Fandom: The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality [Podcast]
Voiced/Written By: Dom Guilfoyle
Yarn Used:
Body: CraftSmart Value - Black
Interface: CraftSmart Value - Heather Gray
Voice: CraftSmart Value - Black
Headphones: CraftSmart Value - Black
Basic pattern here.
Do you have any fucking idea how much it sucks wanting to hug something that not only literally but canonically doesn’t have a body? A lot.
Oh, my sweet, innocent, naive, trusting little Guide. Never lose that childlike wonder, no matter how much about the world you learn. And never lose your love of storytelling. I had hoped to finish Declan and the Guide before the finale of Mistholme, but I figure I finished close enough to the end that I can still ride that high. (Also, if you haven’t listened, go listen. Now. If you liked TMA’s format of “seemingly unconnected/only loosely connected stories that slowly coalesce into a coherent storyline that can, will, and must break your heart a thousand times over and have you begging for more”, you’ll love it.)
The Guide went through a lot of transformations over the course of the show, both in terms of personality and in terms of…existence, I guess. Without spoiling too terribly much, I rather got the impression at the beginning of the podcast that there were physical audio tour guides you would pick up at the entrance to the Mistholme Museum with the latest version of the Guide on them that you would then turn in before leaving, but by the end, you could—and frequently did—download the Guide directly to your phone. So how do you convey that as something you can give the hugs it so richly deserves and desperately needs?
This is a fun one to write up, because…well, for the most part, I didn’t vary the basic pattern. As mentioned, the Guide doesn’t have a body, but it does have a personality, so I just made a black, person-shaped void to be its “body”. Where it varies, though…is the head.
Interface: I wanted this to look like the display screen of an audio tour guide, so I stitched in the back loops only of the stitches forming a square where a person’s face would be beginning with R60 and ending on R71. Then I embroidered a sound wave onto it. Simple enough to describe. Surprisingly only slightly more difficult to execute.
Headphones: You’ve probably figured this out by now, but I will absolutely make my life as complicated as possible in order to avoid having to sew too many pieces together. I think these turned out pretty damn good, though! Pattern is as follows:
Earpiece 1:
R1: 6sc in magic circle, sl st in first sc (6 sc).
R2: Ch 1, 2sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (12 sc).
R3: Ch 1, [sc in first st, 2sc in next st] 6 times around, sl st in first sc (18 sc).
R4: Ch 1, [sc in first two st, 2sc in next st] 6 times around, sl st in first sc (24 sc).
R5: Ch 1, sc in first st, ch 2, skip next st, sc in next 23 st, sl st in first sc (23 sc, 2 ch).
R6: Ch 1, sc in first st, sc in ch sp, [inv dec, sc in next 2 st] 5 times around, inv dec, sl st in first sc (18 sc).
R6: Ch 1, [sc in back loop of first st, inv dec] 6 times around, sl st in first sc (12 sc).
R7: Ch 1, inv dec 6 times around, sl st in first st (6 sc).
Sl st up to ch sp.
Headband:
R8: Ch 1, 2sc in ch sp, sc in next 4 st around gap, sl st in first sc (6 sc).
R9-17: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (6 sc).
R18-22: Ch 1, sc in first two st, hdc in next st, dc in next two st, hdc in next st, sl st in first sc (2 sc, 2 hdc, 2 dc).
R23-27: Ch 2, hdc in each st around, sl st in first hdc (6 hdc).
R28-32: Ch 1, sc in first two st, hdc in next st, dc in next two st, hdc in next st, sl sti n first sc (2sc, 2hdc, 2dc).
R33-42: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (6 sc). Fasten off.
Earpiece 2:
R1: 6sc in magic circle, sl st in first sc (6 sc).
R2: Ch 1, 2sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (12 sc).
R3: Ch 1, [sc in first st, 2sc in next st] 6 times around, sl st in first sc (18 sc).
R4: Ch 1, [sc in first two st, 2sc in next st] 6 times around, sl st in first sc (24 sc).
R5: Ch 1, sc in first st, ch 2, skip next st, sc in next 23 st, sl st in first sc (23 sc, 2 ch).
R6: Ch 1, sc through first st and first st of end of headband, sc through ch sp and second st of end of headband, inv dec through end of headband, [sc in next two st, inv dec] five times around, sl st in first sc through end of headband if necessary (18 sc).
R7: Ch 1, [sc in back loop of first st, inv dec] 6 times around, sl st in first sc (12 sc).
R8: Ch 1, inv dec 6 times around, sl st in first st (6 sc).
Sl st down to bottom of headpiece.
span class="tab"> Cord: Ch 34. Sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next 5 ch, sl st into next ch, turn. Sc in back of ch 6 times, sl st in first sc. Ch to desired length.
Join to head next to interface.