2018 Geek-A-Long: Pac-Man Revisited

Pac-Man first appeared on the Geek-A-Long blanket in 2014, and was one of our most popular squares. Since it’s been a whopping four years since we visited Pac-Man in this space, it seems only fitting to bring him back this year as we celebrate all of your favorite fandoms.

The 2014 square is pretty hard to top, it came out just the way I imagined it would. It’s such a prolific game though that there was still plenty of material to work with for another square.

This week Jac made you an incredible Pac-Man game board. This one has special meaning for me. Before we even started the Geek-A-Long, way back before we were even Lattes & Llamas, I was sending unsolicited knits to the Child’s Play Charity Auction. These gloves are the first thing I ever sent them, and they are pretty delightful if I do say so myself.

You’ll have to excuse the crummy photography. This photo was taken on a cell-phone camera in 2009. Compared to today, that was the dark ages of cell-phones. I don’t think it would even be fair to describe that phone as “smart”. Anyhow, this week we were feeling nostalgic and decided to do an homage to our first ever contribution to Child’s Play.

Fun fact: Tickets to the 2018 Child’s Play Charity Dinner and Auction are on sale now! Your ticket buys you a fabulous dinner, admission to the silent and live auctions, and the chance to rub elbows with the creme-de-la-creme of the creme-de-la-nerds.

Jac and I won’t be able to make it to the dinner this year, but the Geek-A-Long blanket will be there, and I honestly live for photos of you guys taking selfies of it at the auction. Mid-December is a tough time for us to travel because we have family and yarn-based commitments, but let us know if you are going to make it out! On a random side note, I will be at PAX Unplugged in November, so let me know if you’ll be there so we can shamelessly show each other our convention WIPs.

Before I go, I do want to just say that if you find yourself with some time on your hands (yeah, I know, there are 65 knitting days until Christmas, none of us have spare time) do yourself a favor and read up on some of the history of Pac-Man and his relentless ghosts. I wouldn’t normally tell you that Wiki-pages are riveting, but you can lose a day following a trail of links down those articles. A bug in the original game made it unwinnable. The ghosts all have unique names and personalities. In fact, one translation of the Orange Guy’s name is “feigned ignorance,” which is now what I’m going to rename my next cat. Also, just in case you were hoping to never sleep again, Pac-Man is the story of a man who wakes up in a never ending maze. Overcome by an insatiable hunger, he is driven to consume everything he sees while haunted by ghosts who are jealous of the living’s ability to eat, and so try to kill them out of spite. So yeah. You’re favorite arcade game is basically a nightmare. Happy Halloween!

Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Pac-Man Revisited pattern here. Instructions and charts for both knit and crochet are listed in the pattern. When you’re finished making it, don’t forget to Instagram your squares at us @lattesandllamasyarn 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.

~Megan-Anne

Waka waka waka waka waka waka waka waka waka waka waka………..

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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 official donation widget benefiting the charity. Please help us raise $1,000 this year. No contribution is too small! Wanna make your donation go even further? Lattes & Llamas will donate $1 for every skein of Geek-A-Long Yarn purchased. Ask your local yarn store to carry GAL Yarn or get it through our website.