Anybody there?

It's been ages, I know. I thought I would give up, but somehow I couldn't quite turn my back on the blog, so here I am again.

Life has changed a bit. Both our sons are away at university and we do feel as though we're rattling round. I started a temporary part-time job in September which has now turned into a permanent full-time one! It's still early days, but I think it's a good move because I was spending a bit too much time mooching at home. I have yet to receive my first enhanced pay packet ... can't wait!

There are two casualties of my increased hours: the allotment and time - to myself (obviously) and to visit my elderly mother. I've decided to give up the allotment rather than feel guilty all the time about letting it go to rack and ruin. One project this year will be to see if I can fit more herbs and some vegetables into the garden. As for my mother, I will visit her at weekends but probably not quite as frequently as I did before, but do you know, I don't think she's too bothered. She's comfortable and secure and has lots of people on hand at the care home where she lives. My brother visits regularly too, so between us we'll cover most weekends I think.

I've been knitting and crocheting and trying to keep my stash down. At present I'm 'hooked' on a hexagon blanket. I collected some Koigu from sales and Ravelry stashes, plus some bits I already had. I've found Koigu really yummy to crochet with. It doesn't split, it's soft, it has a slight sheen, and it makes lovely chubby stitches.

   

All the oranges, reds and pinks are Koigu; the cream, greys and maroon are other merino 4-plys, including Yarn Yard Ochil, Fiberspates Sheila Sock and Jaeger Matchmaker (another lovely crochet wool). I'm mixing the colours randomly.

The motif is Jan Eaton's classic hexagon and Jan very kindly gave me an online tutorial in how to join them as I go. I love the joining round the most, I think! It's nice not to have to sew up, but I will have to deal with the ends. I think I'll have a darning-in session after every two strips joined. Ha! we'll see.

Comments

[brigidhj]

There are some beautiful hexagon blankets (different styles) on Ravelry. Attic24 blog has a good tutorial on them as well, albeit a different block from this one.
B

[brigidhj]

Good to hear from you, Linda! I will have to book a day off to come to the pub and see you all.
B

[Linda]

Love your blanket and koigu is yummy!

[jill]

It looks very warm and comforting, but I'm with Wibbo on the purple.....

I'm getting near the end of a variation on a granny square blanket,have never done a hexagon one and was wondering if that is where I should go next. Might just ask you, Wibbo, about joining.....

[brigidhj]

No purple, you mean!

[Wibbo]

That looks fabulous! Not colours that I feel comfortable using myself, but they look so good together. Totally agree with you about Koigu; such a delight to work with.