I’ve been waiting patiently for the next season of Outlander to start up ever since the first season ended. Sometime this week I stopped doing that. Now I’m waiting IMPATIENTLY for the next season of Outlander to start. Since its going to be months before its return, I have more waiting to do and I’m feeling kind of frustrated by that. So I went hunting for patterns inspired by the show to tide me over.

There are plenty of patterns out there and most are free. Why? Because Outlander is THE SHOW for knitters. There are knitters out there in TV land that watch it strictly for the knitwear. That’s how it was recommended to me in fact. “Hey Jenn, you should be watching Outlander. The main character wears the most gorgeous knits.”

(FYI, it is also nicely written, well acted, and has a cast of good looking, hunky men in kilts who sometimes take their shirts off. I would have watched it just for the shirtless hunk factor. I have watched many shows for the shirtless hunk factor, usually with the sound off. Outlander is good enough that I keep the sound on. For me that is a ringing endorsement.)

At its heart Outlander is the story of an independent and courageous woman living in two times: post-World War II and the 18th century. It began as a best selling book series and now its a TV show on Starz. There are tons of reviews and spoilers and what not on the internet for you if you want to read more about the show. I’ll just skip all that and show you why knitters, and a few crocheters, are obsessed with re-creating what the characters wear.

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Here is Claire in her scrumptiously thick cowl.

You want that right? Yeah so does everyone else. There are etsy crafters rakeing in the bucks making these babies and selling them to hapless non-crafter types. Fortunately we can make one for ourselves! Just need a pattern.

For the knitters:

For the crocheters:

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When your done with the cowl, you can move on to this little capelet.

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But Claire isn’t the only one with yarn-y stuff. Mrs. Firtz has some nice fingerless mitts…

which must be copied of course.

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Just how big is the cross-over between the yarn obsessed and the Outlander obsessed? Big enough that companies who make money off us yarn obsessed types have started to notice and cater. Lion Brand has an entire line of Outlander rip off patterns, all modeled by a Claire look-a-like.

 

And coming in May, Interweave is publishing Highland Knits: Knitwear Inspired by the Outlander Series. You know a TV show has made it when Interweave is rushing out patterns for fan girls and fan boys. 

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So when will Season 2 come out? Heck if I know. The teasers started up this week and google tells me Season 2 is currently filming. I’m thinking it will be a while. So pull up Season One, watch it all again, and cast on an Outlander pattern.

How many other Outlander fans are out there? Feel free to add your favorite Outlander pattern link, tell us about your favorite episode, or just gripe about the wait for Season Two.