2016 Geek-A-Long: Donkey Kong

Welcome to week 44 of the Geek-A-Long! Those knitting needles must be on fire by now since there are only FOUR more weeks of video game themed afghan squares. You could even say that it’s on like Donkey Kong.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Megan-Anne told me to try to keep my use of that phrase to a minimum, but that almost seems to do a disservice to dear old Mr. Kong.

Donkey Kong debuted in the early eighties as a puzzle type arcade game. It also happened to be the first appearance of Mario. I don’t have any memory of ever playing the game or when I first saw the image of 8-bit Mario dodging barrels, but it’s such an ingrained part of video game culture that everyone, including me, can picture everyone’s favorite plumber trying to climb ladders to reach an angry gorilla.

Converting 8-bit characters into knitted designs is always deceptively difficult. It isn’t as easy as turning each square into a stitch since knits are more rectangular. And they don’t even have the decency to equal half of a square. I mean, really? Where do they get off? But after an especially strong cup of coffee and squinting at pictures of Donkey Kong, I think he turned out pretty well. Although, I’ll admit that I wish I had a larger working space. I would’ve loved to have put an entire board on a square. Maybe I’ll churn it out one day as a special afghan pattern for everyone.

Even though I never played the original Donkey Kong arcade game, I did clock countless hours playing Donkey Kong Country on the SNES. I have found memories of sitting on the living room floor with my siblings, taking turns playing Donkey Kong and his nephew Diddy. We always played on ‘team’ mode instead of ‘contest.’ We were competitive enough. ;)

Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Donkey Kong pattern here. Instructions for both knit and crochet are listed in the pattern. When you’re finished making it, don’t forget to tweet or instagram your squares at me @jac_attacking or Megan-Anne @Doctor_Llama with the hashtag #geekalong!

If you’re having trouble with double-sided knitting, we have a how-to video here and a tutorial on crochet here. Want to hang out with other people making the blanket? You can find moral support in the Geek-A-Long group on Ravelry here.

~ Jac
It’s on like Donkey Kong! And I’m not even sorry.

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If you enjoyed this post, please consider making a donation to Child’s Play Charity. Here is a direct link to our donation page benefiting the charity. Please help us raise $1,000 this year! No contribution is too small. Wanna make your donation go even further? Louet Yarn is donating 50 cents for every skein of Louet Gems Worsted purchased this year to make a Geek-A-Long blanket. You can get Gems at your Local Yarn Store or through Louet’s website. Just remember to mention the GAL at check out.