Super Secret Hexipuffs!

It's a hexipuff with a super secret compartment for hiding notes or tiny trinkets!  If you sew it into your quilt with the button facing the "wrong side", no one will suspect your quilt is hiding anything at all.  ;)

Knit a puff like normal.  Before you bind off, stuff it with about half of what you usually stuff it with.  Instead of binding off, purl a round, then continue to knit each round until it's about the height of your puff.  Bind off the same way you would a puff.

It'll look something like this:

Tuck your pocket into the puff.  If you want to secure the pocket, sew the corner of the pocket to the lower corner of the puff with the end of the yarn before weaving it in.

Sew a button on one side.  To make the loop for the button, you can use a crochet hook to chain 3 in the middle of the other side, and tie it off near the starting point to make a little loop.

Enjoy your secret puffs!  ♥

Hexibunnies!

Does your beekeeper's quilt need a little bunny love?  Then here's a tutorial on how to modify an already finished hexipuff to an adorable bunnypuff!

On an already finished hexipuff, pick the two corners you want to be the ears.  On one corner slide your needle under four stitches on one side of the puff.  Do the same onto the other side of the corner using a second needle. One needle will be your "front" needle and the other needle will be your "back" needle.

1.  (K1, p2, k1) on the front, knit all on the back
2-3.  Repeat round 1
4.  (K1, purl front and back of one stitch, p1, k1) on the front, (knit 1, kfb, k2) on the back
5.  (K1, p3, k1) on the front, knit all on the back
6-13.  Repeat round 5
14.  (Ssk, p1, k2tog) on the front, (ssk, k1,k2tog) on the back

Use the same technique you use to bind off your hexipuffs (three needle bind off or crochet hook), and repeat on the second corner for the second ear.

I used overhand knots for the eyes, which are very simple.  (I believe Miss Tiny Owl Knits has a quick video here:  http://vimeo.com/tinyowlknits/thewoodsyassociation#t=499)  I looped my eyes 5 times.

I hope this tutorial was helpful!

♥ ashley

Pretty Pictures and Hexipuff Hints!

I got a new camera last week and, much to Bruiser's distress, I've been taking pictures non-stop.  

After posting these pictures a few days ago, I received a few questions from people about my hexipuffs.  First, someone asked how I was joining my hexipuffs, and then more specifically, how exactly am I tying them together?

So much like the pattern's instructions, here's the "wrong side" of my Beekeeper's Quilt:

Using DK weight scrap yarn, I run my needle through each corner of the three puffs I'm tying together, like this:

Then I tie two of these regular knots, like I'm tying my shoes really tight:

Next, I do one of these knots, and roll it down to the three corners before pulling it tight:

Lastly, I cut the excess string off!

There are probably better, prettier ways to tie your hexipuffs together, but this way is fairly quick and I like the way it looks.  Plus, if you later decide you don't like how one looks, you can just carefully cut at the knot until it's loose, pull the puff out, and tie another one in!

I hope this helps! 

Tutorial: Octopus Hexipuff

About a month ago the tiny owl knits community made Miss Owl herself a beekeeper's quilt of her own!  I was struck by the love of the community and found myself crying right along with Stephanie in the video.  In addition to the amazing love in the video, she showed all of the puffs in the quilt.  There were two octopus puffs (one made to resemble a lost member's Ravatar) and I was completely inspired to make an octopus puff for my quilt.  

I didn't see any instructions on Ravelry, so I just winged it.  I thought I'd share my notes here in case anyone else wants to add a little weirdness to their quilts as well.

Here’s how I made him:

Just knit the puff like you normally would, but instead of binding off, knit the first 5 stitches on one needle like an i-cord. Once it is sufficiently long (an inch and a half maybe), k2tog, k1, k2tog, then continue on a 3 stitch i-cord for a three or four more rows, then k3tog and tie off.

Then do the same for the next five stitches on the needle. And then move on to the next needle and do the same! Once you’ve made all four legs, stuff the puff part of the octopus, then whipstitch him closed.

Oh, and then put some eyes on him! :)

I left a bit of yarn hanging from the end of each of the legs like so:

You can use those tails to tie him into the corners of your quilt!

He's taking over!  I may make a few more...  Maybe a squid too!  :)

♥ ashley

Hexipuff Stash

I've been neglecting my hexipuff-filled beekeeper's quilt with all my cowls and hats lately, but I did make it to 250 puffs today!  To celebrate, I thought I'd share my sock yarn stash with you today: 

This is my hexipuff bag.  I tote this giant thing to Knit Night and work even if I'm not knitting hexipuffs that day.  It may not look like a lot of yarn from up top...

...so I pulled all the skeins of sock yarn and spread them on the bed.

 And this isn't even counting the mini-skeins that my Valentine sent me!  I've tried to put them together based on type.  In the front left section is all the Koigu, with all my Malabrigo in the front right.  Behind all the Koigu on the left is some Noro Kureon sock with a lot of assorted Knit Picks behind it.  There's even three sneaky skeins of Madelinetosh merino light hiding behind the Malabrigo on the right. 

Mmmm... I love all this stuff so much!  

Here's the Malabrigo sock just hanging out.  The yellow "ochre" colorway is my absolute favorite! 

And here is all my lovely Koigu. 

I may actually have enough yarn to finish my quilt from just my stash...  But that didn't stop me from ordering another skein of Koigu yesterday.  ;)

I'm moving in with my sister later this week.  Once I get my stash moved and my knitting station set up, I might give you guys a little tour of my real stash...  

Hexipuff Update!

I have made it to the 25% mark of my hexipuff madness Beekeeper's Quilt!  As of right now, I have 229 of 913 hexipuffs needed to make my super-colorful, mega-fun happyfuntimes comforter!  

I have a small chunk of the puffs stitched together in a baby lap quilt that I use when knitting or playing video games: 

I have hexi-fever.  All I want to do is puff out hexipuffs.  All day, day, DAY.

Tutorial: Speckled Hexis

For those of you who want to add a little variety to your puffs, here's my mini-tutorial on how to make my speckled puffs:

So I'm going to try to do this without giving away the pattern!

CO and do your increase row as normal. 

On the first plain knit round, knit 1 in the MC, (k1 in CC, k3 in MC) repeat until 3 stitches remain, k1 CC, k2 MC. 

Do 3 rounds of the pattern in MC, then repeat speckled row.

It pretty much spaces itself out perfectly with the way the increases work.  I love how these speckled puffs just stand out:

These technique is nice for a little variety. I hope it makes sense!

♥ ashley

It's Time For a Blog

Hello, Internet!

I have wanted to do this whole knitting blog business for a really long time, but something about the gorgeous weather today and a particularly boring pharmacy management class gave me the energy to give it a go!  I'm going to use this blog to show-and-tell you about the projects I am currently working on, give the run down on some cool techniques I've run into, and maybe post a few patterns every now and then!  (I've only made one pattern so far, but it was crazy fun so I want to do much more of that from now on!)

So here we go!  Lately I've been stung by the Beekeeper's Quilt bee!

I have been what the cool kids are referring to as "puffing" in my idling hours since the end of July.  I've even convinced a few girls in my knitting group to pick up the puffs.  We've started a game called "Puff Puff Pass", where we knit puffs from each others skeins during our weekly meetings so we get a nice variety of colors in our quilts.  Now I have 166 "hexipuffs".  Of course I need, like, a thousand of these things to cover my bed.  A hundred and sixty-six feels like a drop in the bucket.

But every time I start feeling overwhelmed by the numbers game, I just pull out the patch of honeycomb goodness that I have already stitched together and imagine how awesome it is going to look once it is finished.

When I am not puffing, I am working on my Christmas knitting.  I am currently working on some Fishtail Wristwarmers out of some awesome Malabrigo Sock in Eggplant for a classmate of mine.

I'm more of a hat kind of gal, so making a pair of gloves feels like such a daunting task.  Hopefully I'll be able to finish this glove and the mate so that I can share happy fun pictures with you guys!


Lastly, I wanted to share pictures of my latest finished projects!  Both are patterns from the exceptionally talented Alex Tinsley who is one of my favorite knitting designers.  She makes lots of cool hat patterns and I make a lot of hats.  It works.  :)

This one is Rimple in Madelinetosh Vintage (Tern) and Malabrigo Sock (Ochre). 

This is Catacomb in Malabrigo Rios (Coco).

So that's it for now!  I have a free pattern I wrote up a few months back and released on Ravelry, but I am going to make a post here with the pattern in it for people who aren't on Ravelry (if you aren't, you totally should be!).  

I am super excited to be a part of the knitting blogging world and I hope to post more helpful content in the future!

♥ ashley