100 Hexies 100 Days

 I took part in the 100 day challenge on Instagram from 1st August to 10 November, which amounted to 15 weeks of themes.  This was hosted by Maranelle (@sewfoxymama).  I last took part in this 4 years ago (2019, I was sure it was later!).  Although I have posted my progress the last few months but thought I’d do a run through of the hexies.

Week 1 was 5 days  

Theme: This is me.  Well I wear glasses, I knit, I read (and quilt), enjoy heritage railways and live near the Jurassic coast.

Week 2 - Summer Vibes

Ice Cream (I appliquéd this hexie), sea gull (though not in Breton jumpers), deck chair stripes, cocktail glasses (for the social outings) flowers (visiting gardens) butterflies, beach huts and parasols.

Week 3 - Notions

Sewing machine, iron, rotary cutters, scissors, safety pins, dressmakers pins, cotton reels.

Week 4 - Flower Power

Various floral fabrics used to fit the theme.

Week 5 - Rainbow

I arranged these hexies in an arc using the colours in rainbow order and I found a fabric to create a rainbow themed background, instead of the usual red Grunge fabric.

Week 6 -  Paw-some

I managed a few animal themed hexies, but a couple of “claw some” had to fill the gap. So a chicken and an owl made an appearance.

Week 7 - Love

I found some fabrics that I really love by “Love From Beth” (see the selvedge) so I included those with my hexie challenge that week.

Week 8 - I-Spy

I had some difficulty trying to think of what to make of this theme but found a couple of foxes in the white/black fabric, a tiny quote in the written fabric, an eye in part of the scissors.

Week 9 - Magic

I ran out of ideas with this, so went with how to turn a mini charm square into a hexie. That was magic.

Week 10 - Micro Mini 

This was when I started using a hexagon cut out and why I hadn’t thought of that before is a mystery to me. It did help with fussy cutting and I cut sections of this fabric, but it didn’t really fit the theme.

Micro house plants? 

Week 11 - Berry cute

I didn’t have many berries, so added some lemon slices.  It’s still fruit.

Week 12 - Celebrate.  

Party came to mind and I used the Cocktail Party by Lewis and Irene (it’s an old range).

Week 13 - Grateful.

I used a panel of labels that were given away at Festival of Quilts a few years ago. The stamped ones were from a stamp set by Flying Tiger.

Week 14 - Sweet and Salty 

This is now the penultimate week and I was really foxed by this theme.  Looking up Sweet and Salty turns out to refer to popcorn.  I decided I was going to go off topic and use these Tula Pink fabrics and these then reminded me of Refreshers, a sherbet sweet (below is an image).  Not so off topic after all.

Final week. Week 15 - Freestyle 

I used some Japanese themed fabrics for the last hexies.  There should have been 6 for this week, but 7 makes up a ‘flower’ of hexies.

I enjoyed this challenge and I have joined the hexies into ‘flowers’.  I have in mind to make another Kingfisher quilt, a design by Jodie of Tales of Cloth, but at the moment they are just patiently waiting.

My Crochet Cardigan Adventure.

 I have been watching Kelly from Craft and a Cuppa on You Tube who demonstrates how to make a Granny Crochet cardigan from 2 hexagonal Granny stitch shapes and I was intrigued by how it works. She has a website here. A Granny square lays flat but a hexagon turns into a weird shape, but folded from one corner to the opposite creates and upside down L shape that can form the basis of half of the body and a sleeve of a cardigan. Of course 2 halves are made.

Kelly uses different coloured yarns for her demonstration but I used Hayfield Bonus Breeze, which I later found is discontinued. I used this as there are colour changes in the yarn and this was originally used to make a Granny Go Round pattern by Iron Lamb, a pattern I may revisit later.  The hexagons were quick to make to the size needed but I was realising that I was going to run out of yarn! 

The hexagons are joined by sewing the wide part of the L and making rows to create a back panel before adding length to the sleeves and the body.  As I said earlier I was running out of yarn and I had to find and alternative.  Looking online I didn’t find a solution, but going to a local yarn shop did.

I went to Unwind With Us, a fairly new wool shop a few miles away and found they had Stylecraft Batik Swirl, a yarn cake with different colours of the Batik yarn.  The lady suggested winding off balls of the different colours.  That didn’t take long to do and soon crocheting the added lengths for the sleeves and body length. Below are the little balls of Batik, plus a green that I already had in my stash.

Yesterday I got to a point where the cardigan was nearly finished and lastly making a band around the fronts, back and neck and 3 rows of Granny stitch finished that off.  I decided to leave the sleeves edges loose, but there are instructions for adding cuffs.  I intend to wear this to slip on of an evening when it’s a bit cooler, so I’m not worried about adding cuffs and a bit more on the front and I think it’ll do the job nicely.

I just had smidgens of the Hayfield yarn left.

And from the Batik Swirl I had this left

Here’s the finished cardigan 

I got out my selfie stick (used as a tripod) and my watch for to take the photo from my phone. That worked brilliantly.

I’m pleased with how it went and I’d like to make a scrappy version of the cardigan from my stash.

It Did Get Worse Before it Got Better

 It’s November

My mini Toft Chrysanthemum is displayed with some chrysanthemum print fabric for this month’s Monthly Marker.  November is birthday month and birth flower, so it seemed fitting to use the photo. 

Anyway October was busy with new carpet in the hall, stairs and landing after floor repair on the landing. A visit to an exhibition (more of that to follow in another post), more hexagons, and some knitting - though no finishes. Photos in my last post here

To start with is the knitting and progress is going well on the pink cardigan. Back and fronts done and first sleeve in progress so going well.  I’m using King Cole Pricewise yarn and Stylecraft pattern 9586.

I started some socks as part of The Bakery Bears’ “Sockoween” and using a Bakery Bears pattern, which is a Patreon Pattern, called Hobbity socks.  One down and I’m on the instep gusset of the second, so not a finish but good progress. The photo below shows the up to the heel stitches.

I started a new project, which only yesterday has come to a halt.  I had started a crochet Granny stitch cardigan, pattern by Iron Lamb and got so far with it but found another pattern, which is on You Tube by Kelly, Craft and a Cuppa and called the Granny Hexagon cardigan. This consists of two heaxagon pieces to make the body and sleeves, joined together then the sleeves and added length are crocheted after.   

Having joined the 2 halves together I was running out of the yarn, which is Hayfield Bonus Breeze and I bought this a few months ago from Hobbycraft, however this yarn is now no longer available and I tried various websites and it appears that this is discontinued so I’ll have to think how I’ll finish this.  An option is to get a few balls of Stylecraft Batik which seems to have the stone wash appearance and the colours that would go well with the colours of the cardigan.  Whereas 400grams for a cardigan is ok, crochet eats up so much more yarn.  There’s a challenge.

There’s not been much sewing this month other than continuing the #100hexies100 days, which is heading towards its end.  Just 2 more weeks to go.  Later this month I will post about this project.  I have been sewing them into their ‘flowers’ as I go. 

Week 10 - Micro Mini.  I chose this Bookworm Fabric by Lewis and Irene, for the small books and plants, not sure if that was Mini enough but I enjoyed pulling these together.

Week 11 - Berry Cute.  I didn’t have enough berry fabrics, so some lemon slices went with these hexies.

Week 12 -  Celebration.  I used my favourite Cocktail Party fabric by Lewis and Irene for a bit of fizz for this subject.

Week 13 - Gratitude.  For this theme I used a quilt label panel from (what was) Sewing Street from Festival of Quilts a few years back.  I also added some stamped fabric using a stamp set from Flying Tiger, again bought a few years ago.

And an ATC - the theme this month was Architecture

 

And my inspiration was a window in Bath 

It’s now 6 November and I hadn’t posted the blog at last month end so my apologies for the delay.

There will be a postscript about the crochet cardigan, which is now finished!