Seventy Two

That's how many circles I've made...

I've finally started joining them together!

After much deliberation, I have decided to go with a random colour scheme. It's taken me a while to be comfortable with the thought of this. Although I'm not being entirely random. I'm doing the hex round on each in the same colour as the centre circle. I'm doing this to ensure I use all the colours evenly, as well as appease my need for less random-ness! Hopefully it will all work out ok. So far I've joined 5 together, and I think I'm going to have a sizeable lap blanket from what I already have. I'll see how it's looking when I'm done.... 5 down, only 67 to go....

Powering along

All up now I've made 30 circles!

We worked out that there are approximately 504 colour combinations available to me with the 9 colours I'm using! So that means that I should be able to finish the blanket without repeating a colour combination! I'm still undecided about what colour to use as the "hex" part and for joining them all together.

As luck would have it, I am currently knitting something in dark navy, so I took this photo of a circle with each colour on the edge placed on my knitting to get an idea of what it might look like.

I do like the way it looks. Any opinions welcomed :)

I do also love the fuschia and the purple, but if I use one of those then all the circles that finish with those colours will maybe be a little lost. I'm not sure. For the moment though I'm going to just continue making circles until I have used up all my yarn. I'll made a decision on the final colour then. That should give me plenty of time to think about it!

Here's some I prepared earlier

While the hex's seem to have taken over my life, I do have some other stuff to show off that are actually a few months old now.

I made these shorts for the boys for Christmas.

I "made" the pattern myself, by following some instructions on how to do this using an existing pair of shorts and tracing around them. Unfortunately I cannot find the link to the instructions right now, so I shall describe what I did.

• Fold the existing pair of shorts in half - so that the "fly" part is folded in the centre (hope that makes sense?!)
• Neaten and flatten them out, place them on some paper and trace around them
• Add a bit for seam allowances to the tracing
• Cut out the pattern piece and cut the fabric

I've probably missed something there, but it was really as simple as tracing around a pair of shorts that already fit, cutting and sewing. Don't forget to allow extra at the top and bottom for the waistband casing and a hem.

These actually turned out a little bigger than I would have liked, but I did learn a few things and I will have a better idea of what I want and how to get it if I try this again. Either way, the boys love them and wear them so all is good!

I also knit this little skirt for Miss F early in the new year.

The pattern is loosely based on the Pinwheel Sunhat. Next time I would make it slightly bigger, but as is it fits ok. If she didn't wear cloth nappies it would fit better! Must work on toilet training her!

They're multiplying

The hex's have taken over.

I've got the pattern worked out now and I don't need to read the instructions anymore.

It's so much fun choosing what colours to use each time! I've also added in another colour. I had a skein of a denim blue here which I wasn't planning on using, but after doing a few I thought the light blue needed a darker friend, so I did a few last night and I think it looks good. So that's 9 colours in total!

And I know that look like circles not hex's at the moment... but that's just because I'm still trying to decide which colour to use for the last round of each. I want to use only one colour for this part of the rug. At first I was thinking the light pink would do, mostly because I have two skeins of that one! But now I'm wondering whether a stronger colour might look better. I'm leaning towards the Fushcia. If anyone has any thoughts on this (the colours are all shown in my last post) feel free to give me some advice!

And something else I recently finished...

More DIY wall "art". Just some inexpensive canvas and fabric from Spotlight. The curtains in our bedroom are almost the exact blue on this fabric so I was extremely happy to find it in different colours! It's exactly what I wanted. And what I love about this most is that if we change the bedroom decor or I decide I don't like them anymore, I can just change the fabric!

The start of something new...

This loveliness arrived here earlier this week.

Cascade 220 in a rainbow of colours.

And see this? It's a crochet hook.

I'm a knitter, I don't crochet. It confuses me. I have crocheted a very little in the past, but nothing too fancy and I promise not to frighten you all by showing the hideous blanket I made from crocheted squares a looooong time ago.

But I've fallen in love with these. And I'm joining in the Blanket KAL/CAL at Tangled Yarns during Feb, March & April. It should be fun. I don't expect to finish my blanket by the end of April. In fact I had planned the hexagons to be a lunch-time project for myself when I return to work in May. I'm rethinking that now and I can see that they will become a little addictive, and I'm really keen to sit down and make some more ASAP!

The one above is a little wonky and I can see a mistake I've made already. I think I'll leave it as is though. I'm sure I'll get better as I make more.

And see the purple in that circle up there? I'm a bit in love with that. There's also a lovely fuschia which I haven't used yet. I'm in love with that one too. I think my stash definitely needs more of those colours...

Playing with Fabric

I don't have a large fabric stash (at least compared to my yarn stash!) but with my hands still playing up I decided it was time to look through and see what I had and what I could make.

This is what I came up with.



I had the denim fabric leftover from some shorts I made for the boys for Christmas (must remember to post those!) and the patterned fabrics were a couple of fat quarters I picked up at a craft fair almost a year ago now! I loosely followed these instructions but I adjusted the fabric measurements a little to make it more F's size.

I'm really happy with the way they've turned out, and I've certainly learned a lot about hems and waistband casings! I don't own an overlocker, so I also finished the edges of my seams off with a zig zag stitch. I didn't do that on the shorts and the denim frayed terribly after washing. Hopefully the zig zag stitch will prevent this happening, or at least minimise it.

No action shots but the recipient is definitely happy with them. She likes wearing them over her jeans when I'm not trying to get photos of them to blog with.