Granny's Attic 18 squares and counting

I'm 18 squares mostly done since my last update just over a week ago.  Sure, the pic shows 20, but I think the two on the right are going to be history.

I'm not feeling the grey and white. I like this combination, but I don't want another 6 squares with a white half, so I'll replace that with a green square combo.

The tan and creme I do like, but I'm not liking the yarn for this project. I don't know what brand it is, but it has a different feel than the RedHeart. Dyana had left it here. She used it to make me an awesome beautiful scarf.  So, I'll use the tan/aran yarn I have for Jace's Hex afghan.

In actuality, I've made 26 squares so far, but I'm not happy with 8 of them. A few had a mix of Bernat Premium and Red Heart With Love and it made the squares a bit uneven.

Also, a couple of colour choices just didn't work for me, so I dropped them - Grey/Creme, Yellow/Creme, Red/Bubblegum, and HotPink/Bubblegum.

Buying Yarn - To drive or not to drive...

I don't live in a place where I can run to a local store and grab some yarn. The closest place to get Red Heart or Bernat yarns is 1.5 hrs away where there is a Fabricland (with limited Red Heart With Love colours) or Wal-Mart (limited Bernat Premium / Red Heart Super Saver colours).

I prefer using RH With Love, but Fabricland is overpriced at $8.85 a skein.  The Bernat Premium is great yarn and $4 CHEAPER, but I prefer using The With Love yarn for afghans since it's thicker yarn - although they are both Worsted Weight (4). This also makes making an afghan more expensive sadly.

I needed more colours for the Granny's Attic afghan, but I didn't want to spend a day driving plus $60 in gas to get yarn, so I did some math and checked buying online. I don't need the yarn today, so it wasn't a rush.

I created a chart for comparison.

I left out DUTY because of NAFTA - I shouldn't have to pay duty on US made goods and RedHeart Yarn is made in the USA, (imported goods I buy from this site, I should be charged...that's my understanding, anyways), but If I was buying something else, I would get charged it at RedHeart.

I chose to go with Herrschners although RedHeart appears to be cheaper - and the key word is 'appears' - with Herrschners, I know what I'm being charged.

• No duties on anything on the site
• Billed in Canadian Dollars
• Delivered by Canada Post
• Returns processed in Ontario
• Prices
• Great Selection 

Redheart

• Billed in USD
• Does not show correct tax before final checkout (see chart - should be over $6)
• Does not mention duty charges (if I was buying non US made items)
• Until my Credit card gets charged, I don't really know the real cost after duty/exchange rates.

Umm...and I don't know why DISCOUNT shows as blue in the table below :) I'm talking about Yarn here...not worried about fighting with HTML!

SHOPPING COST COMPARISON

Table Header	FABRICLAND	HERRSCHNERS	REDHEART
PRICE @ 1 skien	$ 8.85	$ 6.24	$ 5.49
PRICE @ 12 skiens	$ 106.20	$ 74.88	$ 65.88
DISCOUNT	20% = $ 84.96		20% = $ 52.70
TAX (GST @ 12%)	$ 10.20	$ 8.99	$ 3.53
SHIPPING		$ 13.95	$ 17.95
EXCHANGE @ $1.26			$ 93.47
GAS	$ 60.00
TIME	4 hrs	7 - 14 days	10 days
TOTALS	$ 155.16	$ 97.82	$ 93.47

* RedHeart was an online discount code - so this would not be reflective of buying there on a regular basis.
* I have a yearly Fabricland Member card which is $25 dollars - it gives the %20 discount.
*You can get a yearly membership card for Herrschners for 25$ that gives 10% discount on all orders and free shipping on first order, but they don't state the conditions - just *free shipping

Once I get the yarn in, I'll post an update.

Granny's Attic update

I'm 10 squares in to the Granny's Attic afghan now and I think it will be a great looking afghan when complete.

I've figured out a way to make the squares in a way that I'm happy with.

I change colour in the diagonal corners in the ch2. One chain is one color and the second chain is the second colour.  Repeat. I have to start one colour mid row so that there is a chain in the corner to switch colours with, but I don't mind.  I find it leaves a cleaner look, the first squares where I followed the pattern and had ch2 in the same colour peaked through the stitches, and for me, that's very annoying.

There are 48 squares in the afghan, so the colour combinations will be repeated - but I need to get a few more colours - perhaps some green.

Grannys Attic for Gina

I have a love hate relationship with this afghan!

I love the design and colours, it reminds me of stained glass, but I really hate the amount of tail ends to deal with! It's like baking, I love making the food but I don't want to do the cleanup :)

I knot and weave in the ends. Some people only weave in the ends, but that makes me a bit worried. Little tails start to show with daily wear, washing, drying, finger plucking etc, and I don't want to look at something I've made or something I love and find a big hole where some stitches have been pulled out. I'd rather have a knot (or a tonne of knots) and feel secure in knowing my project can handle being loved. Sure, some tail ends will show, but they can easily be woven in again…it's not so easy to fix a hole.

The first square of this afghan was a bit frustrating, it would of been SO MUCH EASIER had they explained why they were switching colours where they do, but they don't, so I'll tell you why I think and what eased my frustration.

It seems easier to do the following 3 dc, 2 ch, 3 dc, 2 ch switch colour 3 dc, 2 ch, 3 dc, 2 ch, sl st closed, BUT…this is what I think - the reason they don't do this is because the slip stitch to close makes it almost impossible to insert the hook into the chain for the the next round of dc's.   Maybe I don't slip stitch correctly or too perhaps too tightly, but I'm happy with my reasoning.  Still not so happy with the amount of tails though!

Hexagon Afghan for Jace

I love this pattern and love the colours, there are so many choices for doing this afghan pattern and each combination makes it look so different! I found this on Ravelry - It's Attic24's Hexagon How-To pattern. It links to her website.  She also explains the join-as-you-go method of connecting the hexagons.

So many people have done this project that I took inspiration from their colour choices. I decided to make this one for my grandson Jace, but somewhere along the line I'll be making a grey version for myself.

There are 5 colours - I used a combination of Red Heart 'With Love' and Bernat Premium.  The Bernat is thinner and lighter than the Red Heart, but I didn't realize it when I first started. I think it will still work out fine though.  I also used a 4.25 mm Boye Hook.

25 Hexagons

I modified the pattern a bit and did 3 double crochets instead of the clusters, it was easier to crochet without paying attention! I love the look and don't think it changes much from Attic24's pattern.

I finished attaching all the hexagons I had originally made, so for now, this quilt is on the back burner, at least for a few days since I have 3 on the go right now.

I think I have a bit of OCD - now that this one is complete (all the circles are now attached as hexagons) I can complete the next quilt up until it's parts are done and so on. Once I've caught up on all 3, I can then start making all the circles again for this one!

52 hexagons

Red Heart - Tan (1308)
Red Heart - Iced Aqua (1502)
Red Heart - Aran (1303)
Red Heart - Chocolate (1321)
Bernat Premium -  Dark Grey Heather (58003)

There is no dye lot for the Red Heart, but not sure on the Bernat - have to check that (but it's a bit late now!)

Jolly Rancher afghan

It reminds me of Jolly Rancher candies in their packages - which is why I call it my Jolly Rancher Afghan.

I'm not in love with this, but I might end up liking it.  Once I get it lapghan size, I'll decide if I want to attach the squares in a different manner than just corner to corner.  Not undo what I've done…I attached as I went, so I'd have to unravel all the white down to the candies again…uh uh, no way.

It's a great way to use up yarn. The centre circles require 2 coffee table lengths (of my square table) to make. There isn't much else you can do with that length - and 3 lengths for the white outside. Technically I'm using yarn from the skien since I don't have any more scraps long enough and I don't have patience to sit around waiting for enough scraps to get this made! That would be a whole lot of other projects and a whole lot of really long tails just to keep working on this one.

I crochet slowly unless I'm rocking along a long row of stitches, so each candy centre takes me about 3.5 minutes. Great little on the go projects when you don't have any time. It's probably the same, or less to do the white.

Hrmm. I think I'm using a 4.25mm hook, guess I'll have to check that out again when I start putting more together!