Not bad for only working on them on the subway and on my lunch breaks at work!

I’m still debating how I want to join them together. Whip-stitch will probably look best, but sc might give it a bit more stability… I’ll have to experiment!

It was full of happiness:

See that yellow-ish yarn peeking through on the left side of the box? I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with that yarn… it was cheap, and I like self-striping yarn, and I got 10 balls of it, just in case. (I also got 10 balls of a pink-and-white striping yarn of the same type).

Then it hit me, when I was almost finished that green-and-cream dishcloth from the last post: this yarn would look fantastic in the swirly-hexagon motif!

So, I started the dishcloth pattern again, but with 30ch to begin (instead of 15 for the dishcloths). I did try 15 sts originally, but I found that each wedge was *almost* a single colour, and that wouldn’t really look nice, in my opinion, so I decided to go big.

Here is the result, pinned out (colours a bit off) :

Here’s a close-up, it’s a bit fuzzy, but the colour is more accurate:

And it’s quite drapey!

(Yarn is Bella DK Tapestry, using a 6mm hook)

This might end up being a Christmas present, too… we’ll see!

The hexagon scrap baby blanket is coming along nicely:

And that green basket weave blanket is now at 8.5″. Exciting stuff!

It’s working out marvelously! (The colours are a bit off in that picture… it’s been quite dreary in Toronto lately). I basically just did the first three rounds of the hexagon, and on the last round, did the joining method. I absolutely love the results… it’ll be hard parting with this blanket when it’s finished.

On the up side, I have a feeling I know where my Bernat Satin odds and ends are going to end up. ^_-

Then it was many:

Then it was suspiciously familiar:

A slight side-tracking into the joining method:

And now it’s revealed!

Before adding the handle:

And finished!

(well, maybe… I’m debating adding some blue along the tops of the hexes… we’ll see!)

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my Settlers of Catan bag!

Some folks really like this join, and I’d always secretly thought that they’d talked themselves into liking it because it was faster and more fun than whip-stitching. I have to admit, it’s starting to grow on me!

It’s not hard to do, as I mentioned, you just hold the two motifs together and do sc stitches into a stitch on each of them, at the same time. Hold them right-side out if you want the ridge on the front, and right sides together if you want it on the back.

They each measure about 5″ from side to side. I’m thinking of joining them with sc stitches… I’ve never really liked the look of that joining method, but I’m going to give it another try, as whip-stitching them all together isn’t my idea of fun.

It’s NatCroMo; I’m supposed to have fun!

Here’s the (lazy) pattern:

R1: *dc, ch1* 6 times
R2: *3dc in ch1 sp, ch1* 6 times
R3: *3dc, ch1, 3dc all in ch1 sp* 6 times
R4: 1dc in each previous dc, *dc, ch1, dc* in ch1 sp (8 dc per side)
R5: same as R4 (10 dc per side)

I’ve made a few of them:

What could I possibly be up to? ^_-

I made these dishcloths for my cousin on Christmas day!

(As an aside, I think this is my favourite way to wrap dishcloths: just a pretty bit of ribbon and tie in a bow.)

On Boxing Day, Mom and I went up to Michaels to see what was on sale (hint: yarn was!), and to use the gift card I got from my brother and his family (he’s the one with the daughters… clearly, they know where the handmade goods come from ^_-). We also went out to Mary Maxim in Paris, Ontario.

Because I was running dangerously low, I bought some more yarn. Including some in a lovely teal colour that you’ll see more of tomorrow, some wine coloured Bernat Satin Sport (I know, I usually don’t use this, but the pattern I have in mind needs something a bit thinner than my usual), and some dark blue Satin…

… which I used to finish Dad’s present. You may remember this picture:

I made the hexagons for this blanket in about 3 days. It made an excellent subway/work project. That is, until it was time to sew them all together. It took *forever*. I think it will be a very long time before I decide to whip-stitch motifs together again! Watch for future posts about experimenting with joining methods, coming soon. Very soon.

Anyhow, here is the blanket when Dad received it:

(Check out the sweet stockings my mom had made over the years, there on the right)

And here it is finished, and going extremely and accidentally well with that chair that I forgot my parents had:

I’m particularly happy with the borders. I’m never happy with the edges on hexagon motif blankets. Two of the sides are ok, kind of a ripple, but the other two are very boxy-looking. I don’t normally like experimenting with presents (we’re just ignoring the original present idea right now) but this turned out really well, I think!

So, let’s have a show of hands: how many people think I’m going to keep adding border rounds on that blanket every time I visit?

I’ve got a need for speed and I’m going to blog about it!

I’m making a blanket for a rather tall individual. I decided on a hexagon pattern (I haven’t made one in a while!), and this is what I got done last night while watching Castle:

I only just noticed this morning that the first hex looks kind of Settler of Catan-ish. I’m thinking of maybe switching up the sizes of the tan-middles… we’ll see.

I’ll update this post tonight with how much I get done today. Wish me luck!

*****

Look!

That’s 14 finished hexagons, all ends woven in except the last one… I’ll probably use those to join them.

Here’s a closer look:

I’m back to watching Castle again, and making some Granny’s Daughter squares. It’s just the first round of a regular granny square (*3dc ch2* 4 times).