Mario Squares Project

As a child, we didn't have many of the "extravagant" things I now have as an adult.  We didn't have cable TV, Internet, cell phones-not even a home phone most of the time.  Sure we had some nice things here and there: a swimming pool for two summers, a trampoline, dogs, and of course, each other.  But as far as modern entertainment goes, we had what we had and that was it.  During hot, hot South Carolina summers, we'd spend hours and hours glued to the TV playing our Super Nintendo.  Sure, there were more advanced systems out like the N64 and PlayStation, but we were more than content with our gaming antique.  We only had a few games, but we played those games on repeat.  My mom hated it!  The TV screen constantly showing the same screens; that music; three daughters fighting over two available player seats (with the two oldest usually trumping the youngest-sure we'd share, but, in our minds, we were alive longer so that had to count for something!).  Of those games we played on repeat, Super Mario All-stars topped the list.

I could, to this day, draw the early level maps for you from memory.  As a tribute to the game being one of my all time favorites, I'm working on a pixel art blanket.  I'll be crocheting the blanket.  I gave a brief intro to the project in an earlier entry, but I thought I'd go into more detail now as I'm getting closer to finishing the squares on the Mario figure.  For the past few weeks I've been making 3x3 squares--hundreds of them.  I actually have the majority of the Mario squares completed.  The image I decided to go with is the raccoon tailed Mario.  The blanket will look something like this:

The majority of the squares are black, red, blue, and skin colored (as you can tell from the image above).  Here are the squares.  I'm storing them on the desk in my bedroom in stacks of 20 squares each.

                                      

An important factor in my continuing work on the project is the availability of my tools.  Next to "my spot" in the living room, I keep the skein for the color I'm currently working on, any squares that haven't accumulated to 20 for a stack yet, scissors, and my crochet hook.  I also keep the number of each color square I have to make.  Another tool that has been of particular use lately has been a wrist brace.  I spend the majority of my day in front of a computer at work, then I come home and crochet.  My wrist and arm start to tire quickly and get sore, so wearing the brace helps (not pictured).

At this point, I'm still deciding on whether or not to create a full background.  Making the full background means making nearly as many squares as I've made just for the Mario Figure.