June 07, 2008

I'm So Excited---and I Can't Hide It!

Well, long time no see, blog friends. I am also charting ten days since my last comment, and, you know, that's cool. I've commented on your blogs, though. No hurt feelings here at all, nuh-uh.

Anyway, I received a new toy last Sunday--a Nintendo DS Lite. Yep, that's right. At the ripe ol' age of 28 3/4, I finally purchased a gaming system. My beloved parents raised us without any sort of video gaming, and whenever I tried to play on sleepovers, I would royally kill of Mario and have the controller ripped from my hands. I did develop an addiction to Tetris during my older years, but the female-oriented DS ads starring America Ferrera and Liv Tyler drew me in. I did some research, talked to Mr. Cool, and got permission for the DS to be my summer treat.

So far, I've kept it simple, purchasing a crossword game, Brain Age 2, and two "real games"--Zelda & the Phantom Hourglass and the new Lego Indiana Jones Original Adventures. I'm slowly getting the hang of playing games, and enjoying it. Of course, this doesn't mean I've abandoned my true love hobby, knitting. Nope, in fact, mere hours after purchasing my cobalt DS (I thought about pink, but I didn't want to overdose on it), I cast on for a DS Cozy.

Good thing, too, as I was doing my Brain Age Training, the lovely Dr. gave me this handy Brain Tip:
Excuse the blurriness--screens are difficult to photograph. It says, "Did you know that knitting can activate your prefrontal cortex?"


W
ell, my DS Cozy was sure activating my prefrontal cortex--I learned three new skills on this project--the moss stitch, cabling, and buttonholes. I also finished in under a week! I loved this project, and remained truly faithful to it throughout the week, despite the various classes I had going on. I will now present a few photos to illustrate the project and its details.
Here is a close-up of the cables and moss stitch. The cables are the criss-crossy things, and the moss stitch is the edging. If you knew that, please forgive me! These were simple cables, but very fun and addicting to do. I also loved the moss stitch.
Buttonhole Time! These three buttonholes might look a bit wonky, but they do the trick, and I discovered that they're not too bad. I am definitely more comfortable with them.Wrong-side out, with the side seams freshly sewn.
The DS nestles in its new home, sharing the space with bright, colorful buttons.The finished thing, stuffed with the DS, four games, the booklets, and extra styluses. This is my favorite thing I have ever made. I love it!
Pattern: Nintendo Cozy by Amanda Minkler
Stitch 'N Bitch Calender 2008
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Solids in Lavender (I know, yucky acrylic--it was a gift from my school secret pal.)

Thanks for letting me share my excitement--I'm off to play!

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Very stylish Amanda... you could definitely market that... be sure to charge over $100, and wear your big gold trimmed sunglasses.

abby said...

You have now officially surpassed any of my knitting accomplishments.

Do you do iPod Nano covers? It is my exciting toy-purchase-of-the-night, bought with promises that I will start jogging when it arrives.

Enjoy the crosswords. Do you do NYT?