The Beekeepers Quilt 2015 Knitalong

Once upon a time (quite a while ago) I stumbled across the most wonderful knitted blanket pattern I had ever seen.


The Beekeepers Quilt by Stephanie Dosen of Tiny Owl Knits captured my imagination and appealed instantly to my hatred of waste. Here was the perfect project for using up all my little bits and bobs of yarn, left overs from other projects and those single balls of gorgeousness floating around in my stash (you know, the ones that call to you when you go into a yarn shop and you absolutely cannot leave without buying just the one. 'I have no idea what I will make with it but I'm sure I'll find something perfect' you say as you purchase...* )

So I bought the pattern, read it eagerly, made half a dozen or so fabulous hexipuffs then promptly put it away and kind of forgot about it for a year or two. Well I was busy, you know?


A couple of months ago, whilst having a sort through my stash I rediscovered the long put aside Beekeepers Quilt and decided that 2015 was the year it was finally going to happen.

Hexipuff WIP basket. I may need a bigger one. Very soon.

But rather than throw myself headfirst into it I thought I would break it down into manageable chunks. According to the pattern a quilt measuring three foot by four foot will need approx 380 hexipuffs. 380!!  If I made one a day for a year - ie 365 - that would make a reasonable sized quilt and really one a day doesn't sound too difficult. Hell, I could even push the boat out and do two on some days and give myself a day off!

a week's worth of hexipuffs

One of the things about a big project like this is that it is very easy to lose momentum, especially if you are working on your own with no real outside encouragement (there's only so many times my non-knitting Other Half will look interested when I triumphantly hold up yet another hexipuff for inspection after all). So why not tell the world about it, set the goal and make it public. Having random people ask how your project is going makes it a little more difficult to just ignore it.

early morning hexipuffin'

So, right at the end of last year I posted my plan on Instagram and, using the hashtag #beekeepersquilt2015kal, I invited others to join me if they wished. 

The response was way more than I anticipated! As I write there are 14 other Instagrammers using the hashtag to post updates on their own hexipuff (or hexiflat) progress!

I am so happy that others have joined me in this - it's great to see all your pictures and we can all get excited at each others progress which means my Other Half doesn't have to...

I fully intend to see this knitalong through to the end of the year and hopefully have a fabulous squishy quilt to show off at the end of it!

It's not too late to join in if you want to - you can buy the pattern here - and really if you can't do one a day it's no biggie, honestly.

A year seems like such a long time at the beginning of January but already we are into the second month. I am 28 hexipuffs down (yes I know, I've fallen behind already) only 337 to go...

January's hexipuffs all laid out

* you can read about a good example of this crazy impulse yarn buying here. It took me nearly 3 years to find something to do with this particular purchase. Although I suspect not finding the 'right' pattern had a lot to do with being absolutely terrified of mucking up and ruining this beautiful yarn... As it happened I didn't muck it up and the resulting mitts I made with it are my favourites!