Project Hail Mary is the biggest movie of 2026 so far.
I’ve already seen it twice, and am planning to go again. It’s that good.
If you haven’t seen it yet, Ryan Gosling plays a science teacher who wakes up alone in space with no memory and one job: save Earth. It’s funny, it’s exciting, and it’s heartwarming.
Most of all it’s about making friends with someone completely different from you. In a world that could use more hope and optimism, this movie is just what the doctor ordered.
And while everyone is making memes about Ryan’s lovable costar, there’s one other thing people can’t stop talking about.
The sweater.
From Vintage Market to the Silver Screen
Costume designer Glyn Dillon found the sweater at a Sunday market in London. He bought it for himself for £90. That same day, he met Ryan Gosling for the first time.
Gosling saw it and wanted it immediately.
But there was a problem. The original design was a wolf with a trail of bloody paw prints. The team decided that was “a bit too aggressive for a primary teacher.” So they changed the bloody prints to grey, softened the wolf’s face until it looked more like a fox, and adjusted the fur color.
Five replica sweaters were hand-knit for the shoot, and instantly added to the character’s down to earth attitude.
But eagle eyed knitters recognized the design immediately. The history behind it goes back further than you’d think.
1950s Called. They Want Their Sweater Back.
In the 1930s Willard and Olive McPhedrain started Sifton Products in a small prairie town of Manitoba, Canada. Willard was a railway station agent and used his railroad connections to sell wool products across the country.
Eventually the company pivoted to yarn and patterns. The name Mary Maxim came from a real employee, Mary Maximchuk — borrowed the same way Betty Crocker borrowed a woman’s name to sell baking ingredients.
By the 1950s, their designers were creating graph-style patterns featuring reindeers, prancing horses, curling brooms, beavers, and many more. The bold graphics and chunky sweater became iconic.
Bob Hope wore one in 1953. Angela Lansbury wore one as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. The Barenaked Ladies wore them on their 2004 Christmas album.
But Mary Maxim didn’t invent this style from scratch.
Native Inspirations
Long before the colonization of Canada, the Coast Salish peoples of Vancouver Island were already creating complex woven garments. They made their wares from mountain goat and Salish Woolly dog fiber. These weren’t just clothes. They were storytelling and ancestral memories worked into fabric.
When colonization arrived, the Indian Act restricted Indigenous peoples from wearing traditional dress. Knitting became a new way to keep the culture alive. The Cowichan sweater was born from having to adapt. Instead of goat they were hand-knit in natural wool, with bold imagery displaying figures from nature and legend alike.
Today authentic Cowichan sweaters are hand-knit by Coast Salish artisans and recognized by the Canadian government as culturally significant. They’re not cheap, but f you can get your hands on one, it’ll be worth every penny.
ow, thanks to Project Hail Mary, a whole new generation is discovering them.
Google searches for the sweaters recently hit a 5 year peak!
Going Viral
When the film opened a couple weeks ago the internet exploded.
Mary Maxim released an official fox cardigan knit kit and it sold out immediately. There is now a waitlist. Olympic diver and devoted knitter Tom Daley knitted his own version and gifted it to Ryan Gosling. Knitters everywhere are casting on. People who have never picked up needles are asking where to start.
A vintage dealer in Toronto put it simply: these are “forever sweaters” the kind of legacy heirloom pieces passed down from one generation to the next.
All we can say is Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!
Conclusion
It’s great to see knitting having a cultural moment.
But what do you think?
Have you knit one of these Mary Maxim sweaters?
Did you see the movie yet?
Hit reply and share your experience with us!
We’d love to hear your feedback. 😊