Like many a brave knitter before me, I was doomed the first time I glanced at the beast. I speak, of course, of the beekeeper's quilt, tiny owl knits's irresistibly adorable knit hexagon quilt. As soon as I saw it, visions of all of my project leftovers turned into puffy little bits started floating through my head. I wanted a memory quilt, with each hexapuff a completely unique reminder of a project I had worked on. I downloaded the pattern right away.
These were my first puffs. I made the first (the shiny one) with some gorgeous Handmaiden Sea Silk that was left after I made myself a wedding shawl. The other two are from a ball of Knitpicks Chroma fingering. The Chroma didn't work out in the project I intended it for, but it was perfect for multiple puffs. I loved the subtlety of the colors, and the variegation ensured that each puff was unique.
Once I learned the pattern and confirmed that I liked following it, it was time to decide whether I wanted my puffs stuffed or unstuffed. I stuffed these with cotton balls to see how they looked, and Mike and I decided that we would prefer our quilt a bit puffy. I did some research into a variety of stuffing options, and I decided that cotton would be the best option for me, since I wanted something natural.
I went to one of my LYSes to buy the cotton stuffing, where I progressed to stage 2 of the hexapox:
Mini mania. Information on mini mania to follow in the next post in this series. I suggest inoculations if you are susceptible to obsession with tiny, adorable bits of yarn.