What are the best games to sit and craft with? What about the best crafts to sit and game with?

Most of us sit and craft while watching tv, listening to audio books (I recently enjoyed The Adventures of Amina El-Sarafi, so I’m sneaking in a book recommendation right at the beginning here!), while we’re chatting at knit nights or craft circles… but have you tried crafting and playing games at the same time? 

If you haven’t, you should come to our Craft and Games Meetup! It’s a fun way to get to know people and make friends in the city, maybe even get out of our comfort zone just a bit!

Crafting while playing games might sound a little complicated, but it absolutely can be done, and can be fun! It’s important to choose the right project (no lace or cable knitting, ok?). You’ll need something simple and portable. One of my go-tos for simple, portable projects are simple, stockinette, self striping socks. We carry a few different yarn options (like the Entre Sours et Laine Self Striping Sock), the changing colours keep things interesting while not requiring too much brain power from you.

Our Angiels Arts Embroidery kits mostly use satin stitch. It requires simple, repetitive motion, but the large blocks of colour you can create relatively quickly are visually impactful.

This last craft option might seem scary, but hear me out! We have these really simple cross stitch kits in store from Crafty Kits Cross Stitch Kits. Yes, cross stitch requires some counting, but it’s also not difficult to follow the pattern while multi-tasking if you’ve done it before. I especially love the little bear wearing a scarf!

Once you’ve figured out the right kind of project, you need to find the right kind of game! Ideally, there would be four or more players, with time in between turns for you to get a few stitches in. The absolute best kind of game for this would be an RPG game, like Dungeons and Dragons. It can be a very freeform game, so of course this depends your GM and whether or not you’re in active combat, but usually there’s plenty of down time for crafting.

If you don’t have a group of friends looking to get into a multi-session, long-form game with you, there’s always board games! Catan and Wingspan are two popular classics with some down time between turns, and are fun, collaborative options for a crafty game night. We recently started carrying the prettiest version of all those nostalgic board games from your childhood, a more “adult” addition to your home!

And of course, we are one week away from our May 15 Craft and Games Night! Check out more information about what that is here or register and join us here!