Monday Update: January 28, 2013

The weekend is over, so now I get a couple days off. Working part time means I often work weekends, so I look forward to the start of the normal work week, as it means I get a couple days off. I hope your weekend was awesome, and it wasn't too chilly where you are. It snowed here, and it's beautiful! It's all starting to melt now, but it was nice while it lasted.

The past few days, my project of choice has been the start of my Beekeeper's Quilt. I started getting yarn for this before Christmas, and I am finally getting around to starting it now. I have a loose goal of knitting 365 puffs before the end of 2013, so we'll see how that goes. My first one was the blue in the first photo. I made it on the 23rd, and I decided to photograph all the ones I've finished everyday. It seems like I can comfortably make 2 a day, and sometimes push to make three. I'm also still working on items to sell at the craft shows, so realistically, I could probably be more productive once craft shows wind down.

With the yarn I got from Evermore Studios, I made nine of my first twelve puffs. I somehow missed one ball of their yarn in my stash, so I'll be making the tenth colour at some point in the next couple days. I've been talking with the owner of Evermore Studios about doing a giveaway, so be sure to keep an eye out for that!

The other yarns I used are KnitPicks Felici (the pink and purple one in the first photo) and some Flusi Sock Monster yarn I got from a destash on Etsy (the two multi colour ones in the last photo).

I still have quite a few colours I haven't used yet. I am going to try to make one of each colour before I start duplicating them. I might even assemble these first few, just to see how it will look.

I still don't know how I will weave in the ends on this. I was thinking about assembling the whole thing with the ends, but I'm now leaning towards using one colour for the whole thing. What did you do, or what are you doing for your quilt?

Overall, I am absolutely LOVING this project. I'm shooting to have it done be the end of 2014. The finished size will be for a queen sized bed. I'm struggling to figure our how many puffs I will need for one this size. I'm getting numbers between 250 and 1000. I think what I'll have to do is lay out what I have, calculate the area they cover, and multiply that by how big I want it. It's a lot more math that my poor brain is used to, but it seems like the best way. The other option is to have one of you fine folks tell me exactly how many you used, which would be a whole lot easier. I've had a couple people give me numbers they're shooting for, so I'm likely to head in that direction.
Regardless, I love this project, and I know it will take me a while. I'll take it one puff at a time, and when I have enough, I'll stop. Actually, I might even continue and make a throw to use on the sofa as well. We'll see if I'm tried of them when that time comes!
In other knitting news, I've been making more bows for my two upcoming craft shows. I wanted to have a lot of little items available, because I don't think I'll sell a whole lot of the wintery items. I also assembled some earrings this morning. My dad is building me a display rack for my earrings, and bows. I'm really excited to see how it turns out! I drew up what I wanted, and he seemed pretty confident that he could pull it off. I'm crossing my fingers!