the blue blog archives: wackadoodle

I heard about this "wacky knit" from one of my friends who's on all the cool net discussion groups. It's crocheted, not knitted as he (and probably most of those who are linking to it) thought, but it is wacky.

It's a Katamari ball hat. Apparently, Katamari Damacy is a video game where you roll a sticky ball around picking up stuff (here's a QuickTime trailer of the game). As the ball gets bigger and bigger, with all the stuff sticking to it, it can pick up larger things, like people, buildings etc. (Katamari Damacy, so I've read, translates into something like "clump of souls". Yuk!). Anyhoo, a crocheted Katamari hat. I think it's actually kind of cool.

posted by alison at 8:13 am | in just blogging 05

Comments

My kids love Katamari Damacy. I could have done without knowing the translation of the name, though -- yuck is right :-p . When I first saw that hat, I looked all over for instructions on making one, with no luck. My kids would get a kick out of having one but I can't bring myself to pay for something faddish if I can make it myself.

Posted by: Dani at February 26, 2005 9:10 AM

OMG that's reason enough for me to learn to crochet! I've recently become obsessed with that game. I just pretend that the people are, oh, say my rediculous IST teacher. Now that's stress relief :)

Posted by: Vicki at February 26, 2005 11:55 AM

I love the links! I would make the first ski mask.

Posted by: Julia at February 26, 2005 12:07 PM

I love those crazy knitted things!
Look at this site:

http://www.feliekevanderleest.com/gallery_objecten/object1_uk.html

Is´nt that great stuff or what?

:o))

Posted by: Anja at February 26, 2005 2:14 PM

Don't forget the >knitted bicycle, or "cykelparkering." Too cool.

Posted by: Sara at February 26, 2005 2:33 PM

Don't know that i like the idea of the game, but great hat! I think it would make a cute kids hat.

Posted by: jo at February 26, 2005 4:47 PM

Those links made my day. Thanks for sharing them - that's some crazy cool stuff out there!

Posted by: Terby at February 26, 2005 5:47 PM

That's such an awesome hat. I totally need that game too. It's so bizarre.

Posted by: Jenn at February 26, 2005 8:02 PM

Oh my!

Posted by: Deb at February 26, 2005 10:04 PM

similarly, Rebecca Blood posted a link to these knitted food objects the other day. I especially like the knitted latte that's removable from the knitted coffee cup and the hamburger made of discrete components.

Posted by: Rebekah Jude at February 27, 2005 8:38 AM

Very cool, Rebekah! I think however, that like the Katamari hat, they're all crocheted. Crochet is just better suited to making objects in strange shapes that can stand up. It's cool that way. :)

Posted by: alison at February 27, 2005 10:07 AM

How fun! :-)

Posted by: kimberli at February 27, 2005 11:34 AM

aah, I believe you're right. Still cool.

Posted by: Rebekah Jude at February 27, 2005 11:57 AM

http://homepage1.nifty.com/kaza/knitting/knit/knit.html

[ note from alison: these are crocheted too! ;0) ]

Posted by: sylver at February 28, 2005 6:41 AM

Dude, that is one wacky hat....

Posted by: Colleen at February 28, 2005 7:32 AM

Great link, Sylver. I totally love the crocheted Pikachu!

Posted by: alison at February 28, 2005 10:39 AM

My fiance pointed me to the Katamari Damacy hat quite a number of weeks ago, and I have been trying to figure out how to make it as a knitting pattern. I have a feeling that it will involve a basic knit hat with stitches picked up to make the circles... hrm.

Posted by: Seanna Lea at March 1, 2005 12:15 PM

Hi!
I think "Katamari Damacy" means something like "Spirit of making a clump".

I like your blog a lot!

Posted by: tomoko at March 1, 2005 9:46 PM

Oh my God! I fell behind in my blog reading and didn't realize you posted this. I just posted yesterday about the hat and the game. I love it!! That is so weird. My husband just found the hat while looking for info about the game (not that we were looking for cheats or anything, nooooo, just, y'know, more info . . .)

Posted by: Debbie at March 2, 2005 4:54 PM

The Katamari Damacy hat is awesome! My bf loves that game!

Posted by: c at March 2, 2005 8:47 PM

^_^ i made that hat. :P though that first one looks a bit misshapen, my new ones are are bit cleaner looking ^^;; http://mad-teaparty.net/forsale/hats/FS-khat2c.jpg

i just found your blog because i ran into a random stranger in my local yarn store today, and they recognized my hat from your blog, and then sent me the link! lol ^_^

(... as far as the people complaining it's faddish, as far as i'm aware i was the first to make one, so it's hardly a fad :(... and i'm a poor post-student, and they take me quite awhile to make so i'm hardly getting rich on selling them ^^;; besides, the ladies at the knitting store thought it was neat even though they had no idea what the game was! ;P ...and there's no pattern because i crochet by "feel" ^^;;)

anyway, thanks for the link, and i like your blog... topical blogs are always nice. maybe i should start a specific one so i dont' clutter up my regular journal with the random crap i've been making lately ^^;; (http://mad-teaparty.net/store/hats/FS-leiahat1b.jpg, http://mad-teaparty.net/store/hats/FS-pixiehat1-small.jpg )

anyway i'll stop rambling in your journal. :P

Posted by: xiola at March 5, 2005 2:23 AM

Hey look, it's Xiola, the maker of the totally cool Katamari hat! Thanks for stopping by. I was so impressed with your hat I just had to show all my knitter friends. :) A lot of us can crochet and I can tell you, we are all really intrigued by the design.

I don't think anyone meant anything bad by using the word faddish. Usually we mean that for things that may go out of style in the next 5-10 years, and face it, that's pretty much everything we wear! So only faddish in terms of how hip and today your hat is. Not faddish as in derivative. Everyone recognizes how creative the hat is. We're knitters and crocheters too, so we understand the work and creativity that go into coming up with a unique design.

Congrats on coming up with such a fun hat! I hope you sell lots and lots. Thanks for sharing your talents with everyone. :)

Posted by: alison at March 5, 2005 9:55 AM