Nov 01 2008
na, na na na na na na na
There are no words. Just the best
I am not a Halloween fan, never have been. But Katamari Damacy? That I love. And when my friend Nanda suggested I be the Prince of All the Cosmos and she be the Katamari? And she was willing to dress up like this on Halloween proper, her birthday? Oh. Yes.
There’s a pattern for the earmuffs, which I read but mostly ignored, “unventing” the earmuffs myself. The sides of the prince’s head are really quite straight, not rounded, and I wanted accuracy! There’s a disc of cardboard in there to stabilize the edges.
I’ll put the full details on Ravelry. . . . Getting the band across to be flat was stupidly complicated; the pattern recommends double knitting, which would have made sense and solved it, but I thought I was going to attach it to a headband, but that wasn’t working right. Ultimately, I interfaced corduroy and lined it with that. Um, there is interfacing on my costume, which was supposed to be just an off-the-cuff knit. I had to find the iron in half-unpacked boxes (not to mention the interfacing and fabric!). But it’s worth it.
No one knew what the heck I was—but everyone smiled or laughed at me. People at the bar came up to ask. I was sitting in the front window of the bar, right at a busy corner on the Lower East Side, with my back to the street, and all my friends kept laughing as strangers did doubletakes. I got a lot of props from people when they realized that I’d made the costume myself. I also had a little visual aid, so people would see the prince in full—the small felt toy my friend Melissa made me!
The best moment was on the subway home. I wore the earmuffs because, being 100% wool, they are awfully warm and totally functioned as earmuffs (throughout the night at the bar I was saying “I’m sorry, what?” because I couldn’t hear anything). Pulling into one station, a throng of about 10 teenagers on the platform saw me and burst out laughing; one stuck his head against a window and howled in joy at me. They clambered into the subway car I was in, stomping and laughing, and one finally was like “Miss!!! What ARE you!” And I showed them the tiny prince and said I was the Prince of All the Cosmos, of course! He was like, “not the princESS?” And I said, “no, there isn’t a princess. there’s a queen, but the prince is cooler.” he then jumped up and started dancing around in front of me (awesome popping/locking). They caused such a ruckus that other riders were stonily irritated, but I was just enveloped into their fun times. It was so nice!
Absolutely brilliant! The coolest knitter ever! We need more Princes in London
Wow, you have truly outdone yourself! And the ear to ear grinning is killing me:)
I am in awe of the costume! Go Minty!
Hooray for Katamari costumes! My baby went as the prince(ss), too!
http://itchystitchy.blogspot.com/2008/08/fo-and-pattern-katamari-damacy-prince.html
That is so cool! My friend Emily was the Prince a few years ago. You can see her here. http://candleboy.com/candleblog/article.php?story=20051030021403107
I love this originality! And your little price! I love most that you had such a great time! Happy Halloween!
You spread joy where ever you go.
btw–the three links at the top don’t work properly, at least they don’t for me!
That is the best costume I’ve seen this year. :)
OMG, I love it so much! You are totally adorable. (I had no idea who the Prince of All the Cosmos was, but still - you are rocking it).
You do look awesome in those! And way to construct the hell out of them.
Hah, that’s fantastic!
That is the awesomest costume. The awesomest!
I knew exactly what you were the minute I saw the picture. (being a Katamari addict myself) Great costume!
brava! you look fabulous!!
OMG.. that is awesome!
i love it! that’s such a great story, too.
all these people who don’t know what katamari damacy is must lead boring lives! great costume! i knew you’d pull it off! you must have been knitting down to the wire.
Props to you for knitting your own costume!
Now, that’s the way to celebrate Halloween!
I don’t understand how no one knew who you were? I don’t even play video games but I know what Katamari Damacy is, sheesh. You look adorable!
I think I already said this on twitter or flickr, or somewhere in the interweb cosmos, but it’s phenomenal! even though I’m completely out of touch where video games are concerned (I’ve just figured out which is Mario and which is Luigi)
I don’t know who the prince is. But you look adorable!
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
You mean to say that not one person knew who you two were? Tragedy! Whenever I get to see my sisters we have a little game where we try to get the “na na na” song stuck in each other’s heads.
Katamari, do your best!
Dude, this is AWESOME. It looks so good! and you look absolutely adorable!
This costume is AMAZING!
hahahaha that is so great - sweet costume!
i, unfortunately, belong to the katamari-ignorant masses - but i loved this story and you look so cute in a very weird way!
I still have no clue who you were, but awesome costume, nonetheless!
You make my day!
Your costume rocks!
i would have known the second i saw you…knew the moment i saw the photo. but then i’m part of the cramped-thumb club from playing too often on my PSP. =] so. super. awesome. costume!
Very cool costume. I don’t know anything about Katamari, but it looks pretty cool.
That’s such a fun story! I love it!!!!
Awesome! It looks great!
Love the game too. My dog Cosmo is named after the King of All Cosmos!
I love your costume so much! Excellent work. And excellent taste. :)
did you see this?
http://pinkchalkstudio.com/blog/2008/10/31/shop-talk-friday-happy-halloween/
p.s. also there are some very interesting “minty fresh” web sites out there. i had to google yours b/c i was clearly picking the wrong address….
Love it! Na, nanananananana…..Katamari Damacy…..Now I’m going to have that stuck in my head all morning, LOL!!!!
Na naaaaaa…. Hooray! I am subscribing to your blog immediately. Great costume. See you on Ravelry! I am SpyKnits there.
p.s. Welcome to Brooklyn. I am envious of your apartment.
http://knit-amigurumi.blogspot.com/2008/01/we-love-katamari.html
this is funny, my name is minty also…and i stumbled across your blog while looking at the knitted toys blog. i saw minty on the side and thought, HOW DO THEY KNOW IM LOOKING AT THIS. and i was led here. also, i love katamari. how funny.
I love this! I love the whole game of it, the knitting fun, the little figurine… your photos, the whole amazingness.
How have I only just discovered your blog?