…beating the heat with a new project…

I’m not one for sitting down and doing nothing with empty hands. Even when reading I will often prop my kindle up beside me so I can crochet or knit as I read. Road trips are less a way to get where we are going, than a chance to sit and work on a project (or three) uninterrupted for a couple of hours. So when the mister suggested we go for a Sunday drive over the holidays, on a scorching hot day, to avoid the heat in the air con of the car, the first thing I started thinking of, what which project to bring with me to fiddle with as we explored. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had quite an itch to smash through some of my WIPs. The two I am desperate to work on are my ACR wave, and a 3/4s quilted rainbow quilt I started before Christmas. Of course, January is far from the ideal time to be touching either quilts, or half finished blankets. The temperature around here this past week has stopped just shy of 40C, and just the thought of swaddling myself in a project makes me break out in a sweat. I could, of course, work on something different, such as my story time sampler, but it’s failing to hold my attention. The most logical course of action, then, was to start a new project.

Using my morning stitches floss rainbow as inspiration, I decided to make a rainbow blanket of some variety. While the kids raced around and found shoes and drink bottles and their secret lolly stashes, I hit up pinterest for some ideas. There are so many cute rainbow blanket options! In the end, I decided on a crochet hexie blanket. With just four rounds per hexie, they whip up very quickly, are nice and portable, and once I’ve made a stack, should allow me to create a fun colour wash effect, something similar to this fabulous layout I found in my searching:

Isn’t it pretty?? I’m not certain on what size I am going for, to start with I will make 12 hexies of each of 12 colours, and see how that looks, and then start filling out from there.

I’ve got that New Project Energy flowing, and am having a blast toting my yarn all over the place whipping up a hexie by the pool or in front of a movie or in the car. Not only does it easily scratch the crochet itch in the heat, but it is also much more portable than my wave blanket, and it’s nice to have a reasonably simple project to be able to take with me when out and about, especially as school heads back and with it, all the kids after school activities. Cross stitch is a bit hard to work on and chat at the same time, so this will be a wonderful stop gap for those times I want to socialise but don’t want empty hands.

Today, I’m hoping to knock out at least three. My mum is taking the kids for a sleepover, so I’ve got my to-do list of doom sorted and will be rewarding myself at each milestone with some crochet. By tonight I’m hoping to have not only the hexies done, but also my studio and laundry completely decluttered and organised. I have one and a half days child free, and I intend on making the most of every second – even if that means bargaining with myself to get the not-fun stuff done along the way…