Several craftster users have posted game sprite afghans: Link, Raccoon Mario, and a Bulbasaur that makes me want to believe I could make a Vaporeon blanket.  Seeing these things was incredibly helpful when I realized by yarn inheritance included a lot of black yarn, and I had no idea what to get my brother-in-law.

My BIL is incredibly easy to shop for.  The problem is that my parents, his parents, and possibly the Kristen have already divvied out the video games my BIL wants.  Also, they have money.

The obvious solution: game sprite afghan.  Since it would be made of squares, it would be fairly portable, and it wouldn't take the same amount of concentration as a amigurumi.  Amigurumi aren't difficult, but they're worked in rounds so I have to count the stitches as I go (I've found this easier than moving up a stitch marker).  Squares have to be counted, but it's a lot easier to look at them and see if a stitch has been missed or how many stitches are left in the round.

Knowing my own limitations--specifically the limitation of getting bored and shoving everything in a bag until the end of time--I decided to start small.  The humble Super or 1-Up mushroom was one of the smaller sprites...and I had a buttload of black yarn from my yarn inheritence, a big thing of leftover white yarn from a Kristen Kommission, and some red or green for when I finally made my important decision.

Planning ahead, I diligently began making my squares during the summer.  I'd sit with my foster kitten and make granny squares while the kitten played with the yarn--which I decided was totally acceptable since the Mushroom Afghan was probably going to be slept on by at least one dog.

And then I got bored, shoved all my squares in a bag, and ignored them until I realized Christmas gifts are traditionally given in December.  Looking at my squares, I realized I had totally forgotten what hook size I'd used, and my yarn squares were not up to my exacting standards.  Because I enjoy ruining my life.  Also, it didn't occur to me to look for pictures of me crocheting with the kitten in which you can clearly see that I was using an F hook.

So, it was time to begin again, this time with an Excel spreadsheet that said "H Hook".  And counting out the squares and setting up formulas to keep track of how many squares I'd made and how many were left.

This is a picture of Zoot sleeping on the first 20 or so squares.  (You can also see the elements of Kristen's presents in the background.)  I decided that this was adorable, and it's not like this thing won't get more pet hair on it.

For those of you keeping track of my foster kitten experiences, you can tell that I started this project in the summer of 2011.  And dedicated readers notice the owl bag given to Kristen for Khristmas 2011.

Art can't be rushed.