Tuesday Tallies

This week was not quite as productive as last week. Lots of other fun stuff going on - science fair for the 1st and 4th graders to name one - the projects are fun, but the write up (especially for the 1st grader) takes a lot of work.

My 7 hexies. Also, these hexies with added elements take quite a bit longer to make than the other ones!!

This is my favorite of the bunch. I will definitely make more of these!

This one is ok. I liked the duplicate stitch stem and leaf, but the rose is a little wonky. It sticks out a bit more than I would like. I might try one more just to see if I can get it to look a bit better.
This one I don't like at all. It is MUCH bigger than the others and I really don't like the "holes" where the stuffing is showing through. The pattern for this is well written and easy to to follow - I might try it again in much smaller yarn and a smaller hook. Just to see if I can get it right.
I am on the fence about this one. My dh says that I should make the ruffles shorter - not have them go all the way to the ends of the hexie. He thinks that will look better. I don't know. Maybe. Will have to give it a try.

7 squares for the Gingerbread Bear Afghan

7 more kites. I almost just kept knitting on this. I like just pulling out a ball of yarn from the box and adding it in anywhere I choose. Plus, knitting these takes no brain power at all and sometimes that is just what I need!!

One-a-Day Tallies

This week was a really good knitting/crochet week! Soccer games started with scrimmages each an hour and a half. 3 hours of good knitting time!! Also, the first grader still reads to me for 30-45 minutes EVERY day - he is getting more and more confident, though so that knitting time is soon to disappear. It's ok if he's still reading to me when he is...oh....say...23, right??

Without further ado, I show you 7 more hexi puffs!

7 more squares for the Gingerbread Bear Afghan

More kites - now these are truly addictive. The smaller ones are approximately 500 stitches to make, while the larger one is 2,000 stitches to make, so therefore the larger one should count as 4 kites. BUT I just couldn't stop, so I present 1 large kite and not 4 smaller ones, but..
5 smaller ones - see that orange one with the stitch marker on it? That one is new also! That brings the tally (if you count the large one as 4) up to 9 kites. WAHOO!!
This is the whole thing - I do think it is wide enough - now I just keep building up until I think it is long enough. If I keep going this way, it will be done in no time at all!!
Because I was on a roll, I pulled out the Whirly Gig that has been languishing for a LONG time and started work on it. This hexagon was done, but not sewn up, so I finished that in short order.
I went on to make another one because I figured that since each hexagon is made up of 6 wedges, if I added it to my one-a-day projects, I would complete more than 1 of them a week.
Then I just couldn't stop at one wedge, it just looked so lonely all by itself! So three more wedges were made.
Here are all of them together. I just love the way the colors meld into one another. I need 33 of these puppies and then they need to be sewn together. If I keep up with 1 hexagon and a bit more each week it shouldn't take all that long to finish it up! Although finishing is not my strong point - think of the fish blanket!
THEN, I wanted to try out a new crochet pattern that I had found on the internet a little while back. I printed out the pattern for it and put it in the "I Love This and must do it soon" pile. That pile is just way, way, too big :o) Thank goodness for Pinterest - now instead of printing these out, I just pin them!
All the yarn is left over from the Granny Stripe Afghan except for the white which I just had to have for these squares. You know, they would have looked so weird with a different color in that spot!
I made 7 of them and love them to bits! The pattern is called "Circle-y Granny" and if you click on the name it will bring you to the pattern. The pattern is super easy and really well written. I made the first one without a hitch and did not even have to rip at all. If you have been reading this blog for even a little bit, you know that almost all of my projects need to be ripped back at some point. These are not slated to become a blanket. I think a pillow for my couch will be perfect!! See you soon!

One-A-Day Progress

This week was fairly productive. Doesn't hurt that we had an extra AP Chem tutoring session (those are 1 1/2 hours each) and we also went to the beach where I got some fabulous knitting time in. What could be better that spending time running in and out of the waves with the kids and then sitting for a bit knitting?? Not much!

My 7 hexies - a couple of them are a little "special".

Love this one! Will be making more of these in different color combinations.

I tried something new with these. The one on the left is knit intarsia like where I actually knit the green and orange stitches with the background stitches. The hexi on the right is done with duplicate stitch. I can't figure out why they are so differently shaped - the one on the right is the right shape, but you can see the one on the left is way skinnier and taller. What happened??
I like the duplicate stitch a bit better because it sits on top of the stitches and therefore produces a more 3-D like picture. It was not as fiddly as I thought it was going to be and actually took the same amount of time as the other one.
This one was way fiddly - with the threads constantly twisting and tangling in the back. Still it did not take as long as I thought - approximately 50% more time that just a regular hexi.
Naked needles :o( This is the first time in a few years that there have been no fish on these needles. They have served me well (and will again in the future). I am happy that I am done knitting the fish, but a little sad also. How crazy is that?!! I hope someone understands me because my husband thinks I am bonkers.
The last 5 fish - I will organize the last 5 rows needed probably this week and continue to crochet them together. Now......to border or not to border that is the question
The required 7 mini grannies for the teddy bear afghan. These whip up so quickly it is almost embarrassing that I am including them in my one-a-day projects.

This was the kite afghan as it stood last week.

This is where it is at now. I kind of had a problem stopping at just 7 kites! It is almost wide enough now so a few more on the outsides and then I will just keep building.

I just love some of the colors - That magenta, orange and white one is a favorite

as well as this crazy green and purple one.

I just knit this big one last night. They are the equivalent of about 4 of the regular kites so they take a bit of time.

Well, I'm off to make lunches for the kidlets to take to school. Have fun today!

Tuesday Tallies

The class quilts are done and hanging in the classrooms until later this week when I take them down and bring them to be hung at the auction site. It seems as if everyone likes them, so I am hopeful we can bring in some good money - we need so many things at the school.

Here are the next 7 hexies. If you look closely, there are 2 that are smaller than the rest. As I was trying to make some of those cute hexies from charts that clever people have designed, I realized that I have been making my puffs two rows less than they should be! ARRGH!! I am not going to re-do all the ones I have already made - I am hoping that I can kind of "wing it" when I am sewing them together. Notice the striped one up there, you will see more of those to come. Also, I think I am going to try some Mario Bros Characters soon. This is the perfect project to learn new skills!
The next 7 fish. Only 5 more to knit *sigh*. Yes, I am glad to see this project nearing it's end, but somehow I think I am going to miss knitting fish. Crazy, I know!
I didn't have time to sew all the squares from the last couple of weeks into the next section, but I did knit 7 squares for the third section. I don't think I will ever get tired of these. They make up so quickly, if I let myself I think I could be done with the crochet in a week or so!
This blanket is quite clever in it's construction. Instead of knitting up tons of little kites and then sewing them together, you pick up the sides of two previously knitted kites and knit up just like you have started a new one.

The kites with the stitch markers laying on them are the new kites, I have 6 regular ones and then started one big one at the top. These kites are becoming an addiction! I love to see the new ones "growing" out of the blanket.

There is one big mistake though - the directions said to start with a provisional cast-on, but since (in true form for me) I hadn't really read the pattern through and couldn't imagine why you might need this type of cast-on (and I don't know how to do that kind of cast-on yet), I just went ahead and used a long tail cast-on. Well.......you need the live stitches provided by the provisional cast-on at the edges to make an I-cord edging. The next "free" squares I make, I will make with the provisional cast-on and I will hope that just picking up and knitting some stitches at the edge of what I already have will be "good enough".

The original pattern can be found here and was made with sock yarn. Mine is being made from cotton so hopefully will go a bit faster, but will not have as many kites.

One-a-Day

I barely managed to meet my one-a-day requirements this week. Been feverishly working on getting the second class quilt complete - still not done. It should be done in the next few days :o)

7 hexies - so far this is my favorite yarn because of the patterns it makes all by itself.

7 fish - only 12 more to go and then I don't need to knit anymore!! WAHOO!!

10 squares - I only needed these ten to finish up the next section and I couldn't stop until they were done :o)

Only 5 kites this week

Someone turned 14 and requested a special cake - my double chocolate bundt cake. I poured melted chocolate into the heart sections.

She's so big and capable!! Do you see the ironing board and fabric in the background? These have taken up residence in my dining room for the last several weeks. I bet my hubby will be glad when these things go home and we can have our dining room back!!
7yo and one of his good friends from down the street. Notice the handle bar mustache he drew on his face to emulate his cousin who used to have a real one!!

See you all next time :o)

Tuesday Tallies

I am excited to be a part of "Tuesday Tallies" or "One-a-Day" as it's also called.

7 more hexies - I think maybe next week I will show a picture of the bowl they are all in - it's getting pretty full now :o)
More fish- I am getting to the end now - my next picture of this project will probably not be of fish, but of some of them sewn together. I am hoping it goes quickly!
More squares for the gingerbread bear blanket - almost enough to make the next section - I can hardly wait!!
THEN....because I have wanted to do these for a long time - I started another one-a-day. Kites to also sew into a blanket :o) These are super easy and super quick - although not quite as quick as the crochet squares for the gingerbread bear blanket.

More one-a-day goodness here!

Tuesday Tallies

It's Tuesday once again! This week I barely squeaked under the wire with my one-a-days. I have been working on two class quilts and that seems to be taking up quite a bit of my time.

7 more hexi puffs

7 more fish - I absolutely adore the wild yellow, orange, and green ones!

7 more mini grannies - I am almost at the point where I can sew the next section together and then attach it to the first, but that will wait for a while.

I am not sure I will make my next Tuesday Tallies - I must work on these quilts and get them ready for the auction. Only time will tell......

Lots of Tuesday Tallies over at Gingerbread Girls' place :o)