Hexie Afghan

I should have finished this blanket a couple of months ago.  I could have.  Really, it is all Kara’s fault.  Let me explain…

The pattern calls for 39 hexagons.  When I was about 80% done, I laid out my completed hexagons to see how the colors were looking.  The color balance looked great but all laid out together the blanket looked a little small.  Now, I knew I wasn’t making a queen size quilt or anything but I was thinking the afghan would at least be big enough to cover my feet.  Knowing my blanket preferences, Kara looked at the laid out hexagons and declared there was no way I would be done at 39 hexes.  Her thought was I would need double the number I had.  Double!??!  I was deflated.  I did NOT want to be half-way done when I thought I was almost done.  So instead of hunkering down and getting back to work on my hexagons, I took a break.  I stopped all work on the blanket–just didn’t want to deal with it.

A month or so later I decided it was time to pick it up again.  I finished the initial 39 hexagons pretty quickly and seamed the blanket together, hoping on the off-chance it would be bigger than we imagined.  The blanket was in fact bigger but it was definitely still just a lap blanket.  Remember, I wanted something that would keep my body AND toes warm.  Thanks to my really long legs, the size of this afghan just didn’t cut it.  I knew I would need two more rows.  11 more hexagons.  This time though, seeing how beautiful the seamed hexagons looked made me super excited for the finished product.  So I got to work immediately and finished my longer afghan a week later.

Love.

Seriously, how can you not love these hexagons?  I loved crocheting them.  Choosing the color combos, watching the hexagon grow, completing one hex and then stacking it with other completed hexagons.  All very satisfying.

As my first entry into crochet I thought this project was perfect.  Easy enough for a beginner like me to complete but cool looking enough that the end result does not feel beginner at all.

And even though I was grouchy about needing to crochet more hexagons, I am super glad I went ahead and did it.  Here is what the 39 hexagon afghan would have looked like:

But my 50 hexagon afghan:

Which results in me feeling:

Happy.

As you may be able to tell, I love it.  I think everyone should have a hexagon blanket!  And crochet?  No way is it trumping knitting but mark my words, this will not be the last time I pick up a hook.

Stats

Pattern: Ruby Hexagon Blanket by Nova

Yarn: Cascade 220 in many various colors.

Hook: G

Mods: Added two rows (one of 5 and one of 6) for length.

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Arnold the Peacock

I’ve never been able to get into embroidery.  Which is particularly funny considering how a couple years ago I decided I wanted to learn how and so in true Erin style I dived right in, bought a hoop, needles, special scissors, a rainbow of DMC floss colors, and a handy carrying case to keep all my embroidery supplies in…all before I had tried one stitch.  I am crazy like that.

I tried to do a couple things over the years but couldn’t really get excited about anything.  That is until I came across a free vintage pattern I found on the internets.  (The pattern takes a few clicks to get to and is part of a multi-page vintage embroidery booklet but I found the pattern here.)

I was really excited about this project but then became daunted by the idea of transferring the pattern from paper to fabric.  So, I put it aside and the project stalled until last weekend when I needed a distraction from my current project and so I figured out what I needed to do and got to work.

A week later…

I am in love.

As you may or may not know, peacocks are male.  Mine is named Arnold.  I think he is very regal looking.  See what I mean?

My favorite part of the embroidery is the feathers.  I used only one strand of floss (as opposed to the two stands I used for the rest of the project) to give them a light feather-like feel.  I also love the gold floss.

For the most part this was a fairly simple embroidery.  I only used back stitch and french knots.  It was an easy beginner project but so satisfying because the end result looks more advanced.  And just in case you are wondering, embroidery = super fun + really easy.  Perhaps my embroidery supplies investment wasn’t such a crazy idea after all.

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