Last week I was invited to an 80s fancy dress party. What better character to go to a fancy dress party as than a computer-generated Italian plumber who is turning to a raccoon? Alright, I admit it is not the first thing that jumps into your head, but I am a video-game girl at heart and Super Mario is beloved to many of who were 80s kids.
First thing was first: hat and dungarees. Both found no trouble on eBay. eBay is a marvel for almost anything crafty. And you feel a little better about recycling old stuff, rather than buying something new off the shelves and attacking it with scissors.
I bought a red baker boy hat, a dungaree dress (well I am a girl!), and a pair of white gloves for under £15! Bargain.
Now all I needed were the cartoon touches. I have been trying (and failing) to learn scary intarsia (a knitting technique used to create patterns with multiple colours) for months now. The red and white Mario M was the perfect learning tool. After re-reading my new copy of Knitting for Dummies (my new bible, with the best knitting index I have found so far) I discovered the skill of twisting the yarns around each other at each colour change. Thus getting rid of gaping holes and making it nice and neat. Hurrah!
I am not really a pattern knitter, so I bumbled along making it up as I went. I was so pleased with the result that I ended up making a Luigi hat for my boyfriend (who proceeded to put the knitting on the badge backwards and show the messy side, much to my horror!).
I also knitted four big round buttons for our dungarees. And in a fit of knitting frenzy I ended up knitting Mario Raccoon ears and a tail (the raccoon is one of Mario’s incarnations which enables him to fly in the game).
Back to eBay again for a stick-on moustache (no time to knit one after all that!). It was entirely worth all the hard work for the screams of laughter when we walked into the party. Conclusive proof that knitting isn’t all jumpers, scarves and socks. Next stop, maybe a Playstation controller-cosy.
