What a Day!

Today I realized something. This is a knitting blog. There should be knitting here. lol!

So, here you go - Remember the Hexipuffs?

Well, it's an afghan project I started along about 2013, and it is still not finished...but that's how I planned it. Each puff takes about 35-45 minutes to knit, stuff and sew shut. I estimate that I will need 400 hexipuffs to make the Beekeeper's Quilt, so I knew the project would be a multi-year adventure. My project page says that it has been 32 months since I updated it. lol!

As 2016 drew to a close, with me at another new office job, I got to thinking about the hexis again, and I picked them up as my lunchtime knitting. I can get just a bit more than 1 puff completed in my hour, taking bites of peanut-butter-and-jelly and baby carrots here and there. Huzzah! When I came to this realization, I checked the blog to see how many puffs I was up to, it said 186/400. Only 214 to go! Yesterday, before work, I counted up the ones that I have finished in the past week, and added them in...almost halfway!

Then, I got a "bee in my bonnet" that buzzed me into counting up all the finished puffs in storage, just to be sure that I was nearly to that halfway point like I thought I was. You know what? I was off...I HAVE 206 HEXIPUFFS!!! I have accidentally passed the halfway point, and I couldn't be gladder!!!

So, 2017 has started off strong, and I am happy about that. The new job is going well (and I'm not just saying that to convince myself this time). I'm writin' apps and takin' names for insurance coverage, and I am learning a LOT! Thank you to Cindy, Trina and Dick for believing in me and for passing on your knowledge and wisdom in the office. It's been great so far, and I look forward to all the future holds for me as I continue to learn!

How has your 2017 started? I hope it has been amazing, and I look forward to hearing all about it! Leave me a comment, if you have a minute!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

I. Am. Finished.

Finished. I am finished with this.

I am finished with this.

And I am finished with this.

But I'm still knitting these!

Hi. My name is Pretty, and I knit. I knit a lot.

What's keeping you busy this summer?

Nine Lives, in Leftovers...

It's VBS week at my church, and I am the secretary, and I love VBS, so I volunteered for VBS every night this week, and even on very little sleep, I can still write a pretty good run-on sentence! However, when the knitter leaves the house for work at 8am, and doesn't return home until around 9:30pm for 5 days in a row, not much knitting gets done! lol! Even so, I've managed to knit 9 hexipuffs in the last couple of weeks, and here they all are:

Before they were hexis, they came from nine very different lives...socks, sweaters, hats...you name it! I've sure enjoyed the memories as I've knit each one...

1 is in a sweater and hat I knit for Peanut, when she was pretty small.

2 is in a hat for Mork.

3 is in Christmas socks. Remember the Christmas socks?

4 is in a pair of kid socks from 2007! That's some old leftovers!

5 is in Peanut socks, and Sweet Pea socks, and booties for a baby or two!

6 is in the big sister cardigan, and little sister's dress.

7 is in Bob socks.

8 is in Snake socks that remind me of peanut butter and chocolate.

9 is in my new favorite shawl/scarf!

These nine bring my total up to 175 hexipuffs, by the way - go, me! (For what it's worth, I need 225 more. I know. Crazy puffs, right?!?)

Now it's time for me to get to work. I've got a lot to do before 6:30 rolls around, and this crowd is once again in front of me, ready to Conquer Challenges with God's Mighty Power! 

Happy Hump Day! Happy VBS week! Happy everything to you! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Palette cleanser...

I know, you want to hear about the holiday weekend, and all the fiber. Saturday will be the day for that, because I have simply run out of time (again). Still, there's something to talk about here, because I recently finished this:

Oooh! Aaah! Prettyyyyy! 

For a moment, I ran a pretty good game of yarn chicken, and I did end up losing...but it's just knitting, and there's always a solution, right? Right! Now, I know the dyer of Destination Yarn, and I was pretty sure that I could get a few more yards to finish, but I was just so impatient that I simply pulled out the bind-off and the last row of Chart B (a lace row), then re-knit that last, lace row, binding off along the way. I was a little worried that it might look funny, but...

It's just downright beautiful! And I will knit this pattern again, and I will try to get my hands on every single colorway of Destination Yarn, because that gal is a genius with color! I wish I were a genius at blocking, but I do alright...

Which is good, because I was itching to have this one off my size 6 needles. I have a feeling there will be a summer sweater on those needles soon, but until then, I had been working on a sock in Opal's Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night...

But I wasn't loving it, and although I started transforming it into a fingerless glove, eventually I just frogged the thing. Knit what you love, is my motto, and I wasn't lovin' it...so I went back to the tried, the true, the I-still-need-about-250-more-of-these hexipuffs.

Perfect, between-projects palette cleanser! 

Now, it's back to work for me today, and I'll work on that Woolapalooza 2015 post for the weekend! Everybody's workin' for the weekend, right?!? Right!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Hexed this week...

Halloween was yesterday, and trick-or-treats the night before (in my town). Mr. Pretty and I had a cozy perch on the porch as we passed out candy,

and then we warmed up inside, with cats and knitting.

Well, I warmed up with cats and knitting...there is a possibility that I was pretty selfish with the cats and with the knitting. Of course, we do have that little space heater, so we were both pretty cozy pretty quick. You know, even though the thermometer has finally taken the plunge for fall, it has certainly been a beautiful one!

Despite the cooler temperatures, there have not been many finished projects this week, as we have been out and about, enjoying autumn. 

So, when I had a day (on Tuesday) to be in and out of waiting rooms, I took the opportunity to knit some new hexipuffs!

It's been months since I've knit a hexipuff, but with these, I'm now up to 156 (#157 is that one still on the needles, I'm aiming for a total of 400). Maybe I'll work on these more when I finish the big sister sweater, but maybe not. I mean, the instant gratification of a finished hexipuff in about 45 minutes is pretty alluring, but this blanket is still going to be years in the making...sometimes that sucks the motivation right out of my needles, ya know? In the meantime, I am enjoying the bulky afghan I knit last year, hot coffee with sweet cream and marshmallows, and holiday TV. 

I wonder when Linus will finally see the Great Pumpkin? I feel a little sorry for him. That pumpkin patch does seem very sincere. =/ I don't think I've ever seen a pumpkin patch quite as sincere as that one, so I'm not sure what the trouble is...keep the faith, Linus. Keep the faith.

Thanks for stopping in to the blog today, friends. I hope that fall is bringing you all that you hoped it would, and that your pumpkin patch is sincere. That Great Pumpkin is watching, so keep up the good work, and Knit in Good Health!

No Socks Today...

As I typed that title, the very sad "No Dogs Allowed" chorus popped into my head, and I was sad for poor Snoopy all over again! I am not sad for me, however...I needed a bit of a palette cleanser after all the socks I have knit lately. I will probably cast on some socks soon, and I have other projects I could certainly cast on any time now (like the KAL Brickless shawl that I am not currently KAL-ing) but for now, I have reverted to the hexipuffs! Remember the hexipuffs?

That crazy project where I plan to knit 400 tiny hexagonal puffs, then connect them at the corners to create a coverlet...that's the one. It is still crazy. I am still crazy for doing it! I have let the puffs slide for the past few months, but just yesterday I realized that I am up to 150 hexipuffs, so...YAY! My newest hexipuffs have been sometimes fun...

sometimes dyed with Kool-aide (these still smell fruity!)...

sometimes they make me think of Reese Peanut Butter Cups...

and sometimes they are mix-n-match, with the yarns!

So. Many. Hexipuffs. I love each one! 

I started this crazy-puff project in January of 2013, and 6 months into 2014, I am on target for finishing all the puffs in 4 years. We will see what happens when it's time to put them together! lol! Crazy Puffs, indeed!

Do you have any crazy knitting projects? I'd love to hear about them! I feel like we'll all be less crazy if we share our crazy plans! ;o)

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Any Progress?

From running three times a week (and falling once a month), I went to nothing at all. I tried to walk with the cast...but 4 days after having the cast applied, I actually fell down and gashed my knee while also landing directly on the cast. I rolled with it, and the cast and fingers were fine (okay, I was sore...and I had a grass stain ON MY CAST, but I was fine), but I fell off the sidewalk and ended up flat out on my back. I did not walk again for almost three weeks. I was a-skeered.

Actually, walking around didn't bother me in general, but the minute I thought about "going for a walk," or someone suggested the same, my pulse would quicken, and I would immediately play the footage of the three falls in my brain...the video would go in slow motion at the point of impact, and my whole body would tense. A little ridiculous, I know. But I was (apparently) traumatized. Still, I knew that I needed to get back out there.

So, in the past couple of weeks, I've done just that. I've had Mr. Pretty dig out my athletic shoes (yes, they are my expensive, well-fitting "running" shoes, but we all know that I will not be running, now don't we?), and I laced up so we could go for a walk. For the most part, I've done fine. Walking is still causing me some anxiety, and I'm not sure how long it will be until that goes away (there have been some minor stumbles), but I'm walking. That's progress! You know what else is getting better? The knitting! (Yayyy!) Here's proof, in the form of a new baby toy:

A sock, that is actually starting to look like a sock...

And three more hexipuffs! (Bringing the grand total to 129!!!)

(Psst! I did two of those before the broken fingers, so in all honesty, I should really only be taking credit for one hexipuff, but I'm an overachiever...and apparently, a bit of a fibber!)

Anyway, as you can plainly see, there has been progress. As a matter of fact, as this post goes live, I'm probably getting an X-ray of my fingers to see just how much healing progress my fingers have made. Judging by the knitting, I'm guessing that the news will be good. :) I promise to report in and let you know!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

PS - It's a good thing there is knitting progress...my queue is currently over 200 projects!

Hexi-Love!

Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and I got nuthin'. I mean, I have knitted some crazy, fun hearts,

But I really haven't made any special plans for the holiday. Well, there will be knitting...I mean, it's a Thursday, holiday or not. And I don't think Mr. Pretty will mind that. After all, he's gotten pretty used to playing second fiddle to the knitting on Thursdays...especially since I've been knitting these:

I mean, I've been knitting hexipuffs for a few weeks now, and I have loved them from the start, but this yarn...this is the stuff! Even before the puff is complete, it is spectacular!

This yarn is from a pair of socks I knit a few years back...I
dyed it myself with Easter egg dyes. I am loving 
how it knits into hexipuffs!!!

And a bunch of them together makes my heart skip a beat! Sigh!

So, Hexi-Love is my plan for Valentine's Day this year, and I'm looking more than forward to it! Do you have any romantical plans for tomorrow? Tell me all about it! (So I can live vicariously through you...) But please remember, this is a family blog! =D

Whatever your plans for the holiday, thanks for stopping by! Oh, and Knit in Good Health!