The beekeeper’s quilt

If you’re a regular on Ravelry you’re sure to have already heard of the beekeeper’s quilt, a mammoth blanket project made up of lots of tiny little stuffed, knitted hexagons – also known as hexipuffs.

If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a really great project that’s perfect for using up spare sock yarn (it’s knitted in 4ply) and for something to work on when you’re on the move or watching telly.

But it’s no small undertaking; for a big blanket you need at least 300 of the squidgy little dudes, and each one can take between half an hour and an hour – depending on how quick you are! From what I’ve seen on Ravelry, most people tend to pick it up between larger projects or make one or two hexipuffs as and when they feel like it, which is exactly what I’ve been doing too.

I’ve been working on my blanket on and off, according to my project on Ravelry, since May 2014, and I think I have about 80 hexipuffs so far. I don’t think I made any at all last year, so really that’s not so bad!

I haven’t actually made socks before (they’re on my list) so I’ve been buying yarn especially. I chose to use the beautiful Knitpicks Chroma, which has stunningly subtle colour changes and means I can make hexipuffs in lots of lovely coordinating colours without having to rummage about for different yarn. So far, I think it’s made my hexpuffs look like pastel-coloured sweeties.

What really appealed to me about the project in the first place, weirdly enough, was the amount of time it could take. I loved the idea that I would be spending a chunk of my life, on and off, creating something that could be in my family for years. That’s the thing about blankets – they’re such a big, yet quiet, part of family life, whether wrapped around someone when they’re poorly or slung over the back of the sofa during the spring.

Thinking about giving this project a go? It’s knitted in the round, so make sure you have the right set of DPNs – and if you haven’t knitted in the round before, this is the perfect place to start! Take a look at these great hexipuff pattern ideas or browse the Ravelry project for inspiration.

I’ll be posting further updates as I go along, as I’m determined to get a whole bunch of these done over the coming months. If you’re making a beekeeper’s quilt of your own, I’d love to read about it or see a picture – just post in the comments below!

Two squares are better than none

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I have finally decided to take on challenge of crocheting a blanket of loveliness! (Yay for me!). To do this, I purchased a great little crocheted blanket kit from Sconch which contains a pattern, wool and the immense power to make you believe that you can make a crochet blanket and it is going to be super quick and easy (just what I needed!). So, progress so far? Two and a half squares crocheted and complete series of Our Girl watched … pretty good going … kind of …

The pattern itself (or for the squares at least) is super simple, involving chains, half trebles and double crochet (what could possibly go wrong?!) however, at times, the instructions appear a tad awkward/clumsy to follow. Once you’ve figured out what you’re doing though you’re soon throwing out squares like some kind of pizza delivery kid and admiring them as you do so, perfect!

Although I’ve only crocheted a couple of squares so far and I’ll admit, the chances of finishing said blanket before the end of the year look slim, I’m still pretty content. After all, two squares are better than none.

Is anyone else crocheting a blanket at the moment and if so, how’s it going? I’m guessing putting all the squares together is the difficult bit …

A rainbow of crochet hooks

As I’ve mentioned before, I do love a bit of crochet but I must admit, for quite a while now I have only been the owner of a few crochet hooks. Well as of today that has all changed – say hello to my new rainbow of hooks!

In all different sizes and colours my new little set of friends were criminally cheap … a mere £2.25 for 12 from amazon, bargain! And from what I can tell, although they are not made from unicorns’ hair or phoenix feather, they are going to do the job.

Multiple crochet hooks in hand, now I have no excuse for not starting my next crochet project which will be … (drum roll please) … a blanket! I’m so excited it’s unreal. I’ve wanted to make a blanket for quite a while now but have always felt daunted by the amount of wool I would need to buy and how expensive that would be. Imagine my delight then when I met a lovely lady from Sconch at the Handmade Fair the other weekend selling crochet blanket kits! The kits themselves contain a crochet blanket pattern, designed by Sconch, and all the wool you need to create a beautiful throw of snuggliness. I’ll post again soon with details on how it’s going – watch this space!