Continuing with the Mad Men theme of earlier this week, check out the cast of Mad Men in crochet amigurumi!
Every figure is custom crocheted in order to capture the special details that make each character unique. From Peggy’s ascot to Cooper’s suspenders to Joan’s *ahem* curves, each Mini Mad Men doll is a tribute to one of the best shows on TV.
It’s the work of an American crochet artist called Smapte, who sells on Etsy under the name Xanadoodle. You can see the full listing for the six amigurumi dolls here.
I think my favourite doll is Peggy, although I really like Joan’s hair. Did you notice that Don is the only one without a big friendly smile? Probably because he’s the character who says things like “What you call love was invented by guys like me to sell nylons.” Real life, or amigurumi – Don doesn’t do friendly.
Shortly before Christmas I received an email from Charlotte asking me whether I know how to make the crochet blanket that is draped over the couch of the Draper’s living room in Mad Men. (Did you see what I did there…? Draped over the Draper’s couch. Genius.)
Charlotte said she has spotted this crochet blanket in scenes from Mad Men Season 1 through to 3. How did I miss that?! Oh yes, I know. Mr. Draper himself was usually in the scene with the crochet blanket so my attentions were a tad diverted….
Focus on the blanket ladies. Eyes to the right.
Upon closer inspection of this scene from Season 3, Episode 1 above I can safely say that the crochet blanket in Mad Men is a classic Catherine Wheel design in black, red, lemon yellow, mint green, white and beige with a deep red / maroon edge.
It looks like the blanket in Mad Men is the same as the one in another TV series, Breaking Bad. Sarah London explains in this blogpost exactly how to recreate the Breaking Bad blanket by using the Catherine Wheel crochet stitch, in other words, also how to create the Mad Men blanket seeing as it’s the same pattern!
The only slight difference I see is that in the Mad Men blanket, they sometimes have two rows in the same colour (like the lemon yellow in the photo at the top of this post), but apart from that, it’s very similar.
If you make a Catherine Wheel crochet blanket in black, red, lemon yellow, mint green, white and beige you will basically have recreated the blanket from two TV shows: Mad Men and Breaking Bad give or take a few colours! Score!
If you need more help, I found a video by the Crochet Geek on youtube that shows you exactely how to make a Catherine Wheel, also known as the Harlequin stitch.
On the Berocco website you can find a free pdf pattern for a Catherine Wheel blanket. They call it “Greenway” and it’s really pretty.
If we drape a Catherine Wheel crochet blanket over our couch, do you think Mr. Draper will drape himself over same couch? One can only hope…. and hook.
Last night I was lying sprawled out on the couch under the Identity Crisis blanket getting my final fix of Mr. Don Draper in Mad Men.
Geez, I love Mad Men! The smoking in the office, the drinking in the office, the unashamedly sexist comments, the fashion, LSD trips, everything! I love it so much I didn’t even crochet in front of the TV, just so that I could give the season finale my undivided attention.
As a reward, the Gods of Crochet rewarded me with a granny square blanket right there on Beth’s hospital bed!
The blanket is a basic granny in the typical late 1960’s colours of brown, olive and orange. It’s done in big squares of orange or brown, the last round of each being olive green. I think the squares are about 10 rounds each with the olive as the last round. When you join up all the squares, the olive round of one will lie next to the olive of the square next to it, forming a grid of olive which sort of frames the orange and brown squares.
If I remember correctly, the edging was done as a row of brown with a scalloped edge in olive. Something like this.
If the Season 5 Finale was a let down for you, you can always count on your granny square afghan to bring you comfort. It may not be Don Draper, but it’s just as easy on the eye.
