Changes are afoot....

This is my last week as a stay-at-home-mum. Work begins on Monday. Last night my "team leader" (that phrase makes me want to do air quotes for some reason) popped around to assess my home workspace for OH&S reasons. He really should have come around after the kids had gone nuts and pulled every toy/plaything they own out and strewn it from front door to back door, as they frequently do. Then I might not have passed the "no tripping hazards" criteria. But he would have got a more realistic view of my what I'm dealing with here. Ha ha.

I also took a big leap yesterday.... I joined a gym! I'm very excited about it and keen to get started, but it's a bit like the work thing. It sounds good in theory but I'm actually going to have to go there and do something. That's the hurdle I need to get over! I'm meeting with a trainer on Saturday morning though, so I'm trying to start off on the right foot with a clear view of what I need to do to achieve my goals. The good thing is a friend also belongs to this gym and she knows I've joined, so hopefully that will be an incentive to get along and make an effort. Not to mention the kilos I need to shift and the fitness I need to gain.

I've been making grand plans in my mind about how I'm going to manage all these new commitments, after 4.5 years of just having to make sure children were fed and clean and that I remembered to pick them up from school and kindy! So far it's all still in my mind. Hopefully I can put it all into practice. To do it there's going to have to be changes around here also. The other occupants of the house don't know it yet, but they soon will.

In knitting news I have been crocheting. So maybe that's not knitting news? Although when I say crocheting, I mean making chains, following instructions, getting instructions wrong when I thought I knew what I was doing and then ripping everything out in frustration. So all I have to show for it is a ball of yarn with a crochet hook shoved in it looking like some kind of bizarre stabbing implement. I did feel like stabbing myself after all of the work I put in for nothing though!

And the big news of the day is little Miss F is 2 today! Wow, that went fast. So Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter.

Ta-Da!

It's done*!

The blanket is about cot-size (assuming you are familiar with cots!).

All up about a month to make. And although I did get a bit obsessive about them for a while there, I did take a break from making the circles in that time also, so it was a reasonably quick project.

I've gone with the random look, although it's more planned-random than random-random. I did struggle with the thought of random for a while there, but then I came up with a plan.... I made all the hex rounds the same colour as the centre round on each circle. Then I put them together in rows of 9 (since I used 9 colours) and made sure I had only one of each colour in each row. I also tried to spread all the colours out evenly so I didn't end up with clusters of the same colour anywhere. I think it's turned out nicely and I'm really happy with it. It's big enough to go over one of the kids if they are lying on the couch and all of them really love it too. Even DH loves it! Actually I think he loves the fact that I'm done with it so I can get back to knitting his blanket!

I'm going to have to take a break from knitting for a while though. My hands are still giving me quite a bit of trouble so it's not an enjoyable thing at the moment. I also only have two weeks left until I return to work. I have so much to do before then! The kids have started childcare successfully - in fact they are there now and I'm at home alone!! First time in almost 4.5 years I've had an entire day to myself. Now I must go do some housework...


*It's not entirely done. I'm calling it done for the CAL at Tangled Yarns, but I would like it bigger. I have yarn left so I'm going to just add to it as I feel like until it is at least big enough to cover my legs while sitting on the couch on a cold night

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...