It takes me about three months to knit a single baby blanket. By the time I’m done, I usually want to use the blanket and my knitting needles for target practice, so I can’t imagine what Norwegian programmer Kjetil Nordin felt like doing with his crochet hook and yarn supply when he finished this incredible blanket (okay, he’s going to hang it on the wall eventually) that looks just like the map of Super Mario Brothers 3 World 1. It took him six years. SIX YEARS.

This crazy awesome project was brought to light by Reddit (of course) when Redditor AlexKingsHill posted a great gallery of pictures of his friend’s impressive crafting skills. As the story goes, part of the reason it took Nordin so long to finish the project was because he obsessively was on the hunt for exactly the right colors of yarn to recreate the map going so far as to start over when the original color he chose for the water came out a touch too purple for his liking according to an interview he gave to NRK. Regardless of how long it took, the final product is really impressive. And it, of course, inspired some fun on the part of the Reddit community and someone has already turned the cover shot into a GIF because why not?

According to sources, Nordin is going to try and mount this and turn it into a wall hanging. Speaking from experience, it’s going to be tough because yarn can be really heavy. Hopefully he’s able to get the right kinds of support behind the piece so that gravity doesn’t completely morph the image. Personally, I’m kind of hoping he goes in the direction of Zelda for his next project. It would be pretty cool to see that world recreated in crochet. What would you like to see him do? Tell me in the comments below!

ht Kotaku