According to my Ravelry project page, it took me a year to knit this blanket. Though I’m fairly sure for 6 months of that time, I had it stuffed in a basket that was then piled high with fabric. It took me a while to fall in love with the pattern. But, I did. Perhaps it was all the stitches that one must pick up in this pattern that caused me to initially hide my head in the sand. I was never very good at picking up stitches. Thanks to this pattern, I’m a pro and speedy to boot.

Speaking of the pattern, let’s talk details. I hope you want to know the stats because I am dying to share them with you. I took notes just in case you wanted to knit a hexagon blanket too or just in case you are curious. Either works for me.

Pattern: Basic Two-Needle Hexagon by Barbara Walker
Located in a 4th Treasury of Knitting Patterns book
Page 16 in my copy

Size of finished blanket: 60″ diameter
Size of individual hexagon: 20″
My gauge: 5 sts per inch on size 6 needles (though as mentioned previously, I’m a very loose knitter)

I originally made a hexagon about the size featured in the book by casting on 25 stitches. Yet, I knew Dan would find me on a train headed to the funny farm if I had to knit 20+ hexagons and then stitch them altogether. Learning from my swatch, I cast on 55 stitches. The rest of the instructions I followed to the letter. I even used 2 colors like Barbara recommended. After the first hexagon was finished, I became lax and perhaps a bit confident in my picking up skills. Finding her instructions on how to pick up exactly 55 stitches tedious, I stopped counting and proceeded to pick up only the stitches that were easy to pick up, skipping stitches at random. Rarely did I pick up the correct number. I usually had 2-4 stitches too many, but I solved that problem by quickly decreasing the extra stitches on the next row. Can I tell you that it made the hexagon just that much more enjoyable to knit? And how! As happy as I was to finish knitting before the weather got hot, I was sad to be done with the blanket. Though I’ve never knit a pattern twice, this is one pattern I would gladly make an exception for.

Now as you know, this blanket was a yarn hog. I made 2 trips to my LYS and still had to order extra yarn from a fellow Ravelry user. In the end, I used 8 skeins of Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica in natural, colorway 14 for the MC (main color). I even needed a 9th skein to stitch all the hexagons together. It was that close. For the variegated yarns, I used 3 balls of Crystal Palace Taos and 6 skeins of Noro Kureyon in colorway 250. If you plan to use Noro throughout the blanket as the CC (complimentary color), then you’ll need closer to 10 skeins.

Oddly, when I finished stitching all the hexagaons together, I didn’t like the blanket. I didn’t like it. It wasn’t as amazing as I had dreamed it could be. It looked like a bunch of little stitches with 3 different types of yarns. No angels descended from on high and sung to me. It just didn’t happen.

And then I washed it and blocked it. But more importantly, I left it at my neighbor’s house in her upstairs room to dry (she had the space to allow it to dry flat). Walking away from it for 2 days and not looking at it allowed me fall in love with the blanket when I saw it next. I think I had been too close to the blanket for too long. It looked so mundane to me because it was commonplace in my hands. Now, I truly love it again.

I still have 2 more panels to sew of the sheer curtains, but I couldn’t wait a moment longer. It was with glee that I took the old red curtains down and cut into them with my sewing sheers. I hope to reuse the fabric when I make Noodlehead’s Go Anywhere bag. Perhaps I’ll make some pillows too just to remember the curtains by.

With Dan’s help and perhaps Elly’s help too, the new sheer curtains were hung.

Now as much as I love the new sheer curtains and I especially adore all the light they let in, I am on the hunt for new home decorator fabric that can layer overtop. Our front room faces south and gets blasted by the sun all day long. By noon, it’s like an inferno in the living room. The old shades provided much needed protection from the sun by blocking it out. The sooner I can find new fabric and line such fabric with flannel – for that is the key to weather protecting curtains – the less often we will have to run our AC.

Curtains for the guest bedroom.

Long have I hated the old curtains, especially after I repainted the room in a cream color a few years ago. The old curtains were just too dark and too formal and so not me.

These curtains are a touch fancy what with all the embroidery, but for $2 I’m not complaining. They save me from having to sew yet more curtains for this house at a time when I want to focus on our party dresses.

I bought 3 panels, but have only hung 2; 1 per window. I figure I can use the 3rd panel to make pillows or to make a valance. In the meantime, I’ll add it to my stash. It’ll come in handy eventually.

Last year at the Pottstown Knit Out, I had taken a class on how to knit continental. By the end of the class, I could make both a knit stitch and a purl stitch.

Yet when I got home and picked up my current knitting project, I reverted back to the way I had always knit. The habit was too great.

At first I rationalized that I didn’t want to potentially alter my gauge halfway through a project. When I cast on for the next project, I would switch to knitting in continental. But, I didn’t. Nor did I do it for the project after that or for the huge hexagon blanket I just finished.

So here I am having to consult my Knitting Without Tears book to remember what I learned in the Knit Out class.

I feel like a beginner knitter. Part of me is happy to be learning something new and expanding my knitting knowledge. The other part of me is frustrated to be relegated to knitting dishcloths when what I really want to do is test out my new lace pattern.

After just a few rows of the dishcloth, I understand why the continental style of knitting is as beloved as it is. It requires a whole lot less hand movement. I can make a new stitch with just a flick of my wrist. It’s nice. It might even correct my gauge issues. You see, I’m a loose knitter. I tend to use needles 2-3 sizes smaller than what is recommended by yarn companies. I didn’t start out that way. In fact, I knitted extremely tight when I was first starting to knit. Well one day, my MIL saw me struggling to knit. “Why are you knitting so tight?” she asked. Before I could even answer, she took the needles out of my hand and showed me how to knit loosely. I never knit a tight stitch again. But, I went to the other spectrum and began to knit extremely loosely. Now that I’m learning to knit again, maybe I can knit just so and not be too loose or too tight. Just so.

Long have I had a cabled stole idea brewing that I would love to knit in this merino lace yarn by Yarn Chef.

Plus, I bought this hand-spun wool yarn two years ago from the Pottstown Knit Out with the intention of knitting Mommy and Me vests.

I think I shall knit this summer after all while I test out the patterns for these projects.

Like knitting, I would rather not garden once the weather turns hot. I sweated like a pig pulling out the lilies. It was too much like work and not a lot like a relaxing hobby.

All the gardening projects on my to-do list ( most of which involve cutting down bushes and flowers that no longer fit into my landscape design) will just have to wait. Maybe by the time Fall rolls around, I’ll get my energy back.

I stitched the hexagons together on the picnic table outside while Elly played in her water table and her sandbox.

It was a wonderful day.

So wonderful in fact that we took a ride on the tandem bike to Coventry Ice Cream Parlor. Elly repeatedly told us how much she liked ice cream.

The next few days should be rainy so the center of the flower will sit and wait on the dining room chair. By the end of the month though, the hexagon blanket will be finished. My current plan is to devote all my energy to the party dresses, but it may prove hard to stay away from my yarn stash. Maybe I’ll spin the alpaca fiber. Oh dear, I think I’m smitten already.

Not only did I fill the 3 raised garden beds, purchased from Garden Supply Co, with the following vegetables and herbs:
Spinach
Tomatoes
Parsley
Basil
Curry
Carrots
Peppers
Zucchini
Onions,
But I also made a herb bed.

The herbs I chose to plant are all perennials (the annuals went in the raised beds).
Rather than start from seed as I did in the raised beds, I purchased saplings from my local nursery, Achin Back. The following herbs were planted:
Lavender
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
The chives were originally in the raised beds, but I moved them over to allow more room for vegetables.

Then, because I lost my mind, I made a strawberry patch and a pumpkin patch.

OK. So, this patch looks nothing more than cleared land with some flowers and mulch, but trust me there are at least 70 seeds just under the soil. If they all take, I’ll be doing a bunch of thinning. Goodness knows, I don’t need 70 pumpkins.

And this doesn’t look like a strawberry patch either, but you have to trust me on this one too. The green plants under the lilac bushes are wild strawberries. The itty bitty strawberries that do ripen are disgusting. So, my goal is to let the strawberry plants that I picked up from my local nursery to take over this bit of land.

Here’s hoping.

Even more exciting, I’ve already reaped what I sowed. On Mother’s Day, I made a spinach and strawberry salad with spinach from my garden. It was delicious.

Tomorrow I plan to make a pesto from the spinach.

My submission to the ADay.org can be found here.

I ordered more yarn, but no longer need it. I found a small ball of Wool Clasica in my project bag. It was so small that I didn’t think there was any chance that it would be enough to knit the last few rows.

But, it was.

Dance of joy followed by a huge sigh of relief.
The blanket is finished (except for the finishing) before my May 15th deadline and before the summer weather arrived.
Hooray!

Yesterday morning, I seamed up all the hexagons.

Now, I just have to sew the pieces together. Unfortunately, it’s a bit fiddly since the stripes need to line up. It’s going to take a lot of patience and a glass or two of port, I think.