8 Bit Coasters

Do you ever get to a point in your crafting where none of your projects seem to be interesting or inspiring any more? Because I hit that point last week *laughs* I just wasn't feeling it, at all. Usually at that point I cast on something new, but I was so uninspired that I couldn't even decide what to cast on.

It struck me as time to take a little break from knitting, just a few days, to clear my head and find the fun again.

Luckily, I found something else fun to do in the meantime...

Over Easter, we had boyfriend's kids staying with us for a few days, and I suggested doing something that I'd wanted to try for a while. Luckily they were really into the idea *grins*

We made 8 bit coasters from Hama beads (or Perler beads, or if you use the IKEA version like we did, Pyssla beads *laughs*)

It was great fun - I've wanted to make some of these for ages, and doing it with the boys was a perfect afternoon activity.

My favourite (currently, it changes with alarming regularity) is the Mario mushroom - I think because it is so iconic and the shape is perfect for this.

But then I do also love my Sonic - the first coaster I made. I particularly like the multi-green background. I was going for the first level of Sonic, the Green Hills Zone ;)

There are 2 coasters that don't entirely fit the "old school video games" theme - the Iron Man and Hulk ones. But the little sprite-like figures were just too cute, so we had to make them too *laughs*

With this one, you can see I melted it a bit more than the other two, which I think works really well to show pixellation. I might do that to some of the others too - although it does make them a little wonky and less inclined to stay flat, so I need to come up with a way to resolve that - unstable drinks coasters aren't exactly ideal!

The boys had loads of fun making them and have already asked what new designs we're going to try this weekend. Guess I should get some more beads in!