B. Lucky & Sons opens in Brisbane!

Arcade Bars are becoming a big deal. While a lot have that retro feeling we all crave, or rely on their cocktails being named after Sonic the Hedgehog characters, B. Lucky and Sons hits a lot of those marks the others don’t.

Hidden in the newly revamped TC Beirne Department Store off the Brunswick St Mall in Fortitude Valley, you could easily miss it. From the outside, it looks like a pawn shop. But it’s by design. Created in the spirit of an illegal gambling den, you pass the pawn-shop-but-really-a-prize-hall, to the sparkling games within. The neon lights and whirling and howling noises of the games will easily show you where you are.

B. Lucky and Sons is the second of its kind, after a successful launch in Melbourne about a month ago, and from the minds of those who brought us Holey Moley and Strike Bowling. It’s certainly scratching an itch you didn’t know you had. With new games based on the Tomb Raider and Rampage movies, and old arcade favourites like Dance Dance Revolution and Space Invaders.

And the owners know their audience. Want to hang out with your friends? Want a place to take a date? Want some good food? Want to spend some fun times winning some great retro prizes?

There’s certainly an audience for it. Want somewhere to bring a date? Why not try win them a kitchy prize of let them beat you at skee-ball. Want somewhere fun to hang out with your friends? Why not beat them at Mario Kart. Want some great food and cool cocktails while sitting in a replicated tie fighter cockpit? Well, B. Lucky and Sons definitely has you covered there.

Want to check out the newest drawcard for Fortitude Valley? B. Lucky and Sons opens on Thursday September 27. Get in quick and win the retro Return of the Jedi puzzle!

Written by Brice Fallon.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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