Character Name: Martin Blackwood
Fandom: The Magnus Archives [Podcast]
Voiced By: Alexander J. Newall
Yarn Used:
Shoes: CraftSmart Value - Dark Almond
Trousers: CraftSmart Value - Coffee
Jumper: CraftSmart Value - Cornflower
Skin: CraftSmart Value - Peach
Hair: CraftSmart Value - Clay Ombre
Glasses: Ashland Floral Wire - 22 Gauge/Iron/Silver
Basic pattern here.
Martin. My boy Martin. First character I put on this list before it was an actual list. (Why didn’t I do him first? Look…by the time I realized I had to actually do this, other podcasts were still ongoing and characters actively needed hugs.) It has been a long time since I have identified with a character so hard, and I love him so much. I couldn’t wait to get to hug him.
He differs from the base pattern as follows:
Shoes: I gave Martin loafers, or at least that was what I meant to give him. Therefore, I stopped with the shoe color at R6 (the final decrease) and switched to trouser color. I also knotted a small scrap of brown yarn on the tips and tied them in bows.
Trousers: So here’s the thing: Martin is fat. I know there are people who want to argue that the podcast never explicitly says the word “fat” - just things like “a bigger guy” and “roomy” and the like - and that that could mean he’s just tall or broad or muscular or whatever, but for fuck’s sake, there aren’t that many fat characters out there that aren’t punch lines, let me have this. Anyway, I am also fat, so I admittedly based a lot of my alterations on, well, me. And the first thing I decided was that Martin, like me, has trouble finding pants off the rack that fit him properly because everything that fits his waist has too long of an inseam, so I decided to give him cuffs on his pants by doing R7 as hdc in front loops of R6 only, then R8 as dc in the back loops of R6. I then continued as normal up through R17 and:
R18: Ch 1, [sc in next 2 st, 2 sc in next st] 5 times around, sl st in first sc (20 sc).
R19: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (20 sc).
R20: Ch 1, [sc in next 4 st, 2 sc in next st] 4 times around, sl st in first sc (24 sc).
R21-29: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (24 sc).
After completing second leg, sl st to middle of inseam. Ch 4 and join to middle of inseam of opposite leg.
R30: Ch 1, [sc in each st around leg, sc in each ch across] 2 times, sl st in first sc (56 sc).
R31-32: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (56 sc).
R33: Ch 1, sc in first st, 2 sc in next st, [sc in next 3 st, 2 sc in next st] 2 times, sc in next 32 st, [2sc in next st, sc in next 3 st] 3 times, 2sc in next st, sc in next st, sl st in first sc (62 sc).
R34: Ch 1, [2sc in next st, sc in next 2 st] 4 times, 2sc in next st, sc in next 32 st, [2sc in next st, sc in next 2 st] 5 times, sc in next 2 st, sl st in first sc (72 sc).
R35: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (72 sc).
Jumper: Let the record show that I bought this yarn specifically because it was the exact color I always had in mind in leaves when I referenced “the jumper Jon once offhandedly complimented him on”. I did it the same way I did Joseph’s hoodie, fpdc around each st in R34 and then continuing in sc, but I also decided to make his stomach a bit bigger as I went. Beginning with R39:
R39: Ch 1, [sc in next 5 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times, sc in next 32 st, [2sc in next st, sc in next 5 st] 3 times, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 st, sl st in first sc (79 sc).
R40: Ch 1, 2sc in first st, sc in next 78 st, sl st in first sc (80 sc).
R41-42: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (80 sc).
R43: Ch 1, sc in first 2 st, inv dec, [sc in next 4 st, inv dec] 3 times, sc in next 32 st, [inv dec, sc in next 4 st] 4 times, inv dec, sc in next 2 st, sl st in first sc (72 sc).
R44-45: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (72 sc).
R46: Ch 1, [sc in first 4 st, inv dec] 12 times, sl st in first sc (60 sc).
R47-48: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st (60 sc).
R49: Ch 1, [sc in first 3 st, inv dec] 12 times, sl st in first sc (48 sc).
R50-57: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (48 sc).
R58: Ch 1, inv dec around, sl st in first st (24 sc).
R59: Switch to skin color. Ch 1, sc in back loop of each st around, sl st in first st (24 sc).
R60: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (24 sc).
Head: I decided Martin has no neck really, but a slightly square head/jaw. (It came out a bit chinless, honestly, but it works for him.) So the pattern went as follows:
R61: Ch 1, [sc in front loop of first 3 st, 2sc in front loop of next st] 6 times around, sl st in first sc (30 sc).
R62: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (30 sc).
R63: Ch 1, [sc in first 4 st, 2sc in next st] 6 times around, sl st in first sc (36 sc).
R64: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc (36 sc).
R65-R82: Continue as in base pattern.
I also gave him ears like I did Alice. For hair, I did the loop method again, just…significantly shorter, so I had to do more of it. (Which was fine, really, it kept me occupied on a long car ride…)
Glasses: I didn’t wrap these in thread this time, but I did cut the wire long enough that I could double it up the whole way across, so it works well, I think.
Arms: Like with the legs, I decided to make Martin’s arms fatter than usual, so at R12 I chained 2 and then did a pattern of (hdc, 2hdc) around to open it up to eighteen stitches from twelve. I also extended them to 33 rounds to fit better with his body.
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