Tessellation Nation - Making Progress

No that I have a path forward I’ve been making progress, making pentagons and joining things as I go, filling in the diamonds, boats and stars as I can.  I changed the diamonds to be essentially two star points, with an extra triple crochet, so I work one extra chain before anchoring.  It is far easier and quicker to make as compared to what the pattern calls for, which was definitely very fiddly.

Pattern:  Tessellation Nation by Sue Maton

Yarn: Scheepjes Terrazzo

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Tessellation Nation - Take Four?

So I have been noodling around with this one for, oh, six months now.  Trying out different designs and color combinations and just not finding anything that really got me excited, although in the process I’ve had fun and learned lots.

I started out with some of my favorite colors - teals and purples and made a couple of pentagon circles.

That really didn’t go anywhere, although I like the color combinations.

I made more progress on my next iteration, but still just wasn’t feeling it.  Then I ordered a color card for the Scheepjes Terrazzo yarn, which helped my design process immeasurably.

Next I thought I would try a gradient of pinks for my background.  But that wasn’t sparking me either.  I had printed out an asymmetric grid (no motifs) to keep track of my progress on this last go and as I was working I just became fascinated by the shapes and how they interacted.  So I went back to basics and decided to kick it old school.  I printed out another asymmetric grid and got out my colored pencils and made the design in the first picture.  No motifs, just shapes and colors.  In the end I decided on just six shapes - pentagon 1 (I love making these, they are like potato chip crochet), stars, boats, diamonds, medallions and mandalas.  No small flowers, no 5-petal flowers, no 10-petal flowers.  Instead of small flowers, I’m using pentagons in that shape.  The next challenge was the colors for those.  I had decided I wanted a central pentagon with a green frame, and then 5 petal pentagons with a blue frame.  My first attempt at the colors wasn’t quite right.

I ordered some more colors and they came yesterday and last night I started yet again.

Finally something that got me smiling and nodding “yes!”.  I’m even going to be able to use those pink pentagons that I made.  I’m not sure what to do with all those other attempts.  I suppose I could turn them in to dodecahedrons.

Pattern:  Tessellation Nation by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Scheepjes Terrazzo

Hook:  F (3.75 mm)

Tessellation Nation - Bottom Edge Pentagons Done!

I finished up the pentagons, and the boats, diamonds, and stars in the bottom edge of my Tessellation Nation.  I pulled out the 5 petal flower that I had set in because I didn’t like the color vibe that was going on.  I ordered a color card to make it easier to pick colors.  I am starting to second guess my plan for this blanket.  There are some amazing blankets in the Facebook group.   I don’t know, I’ll let it sit, and maybe play around on photopea some more.

Pattern:  Tessellation Nation by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Scheepjes Terrazzo

Hook:  3.75 mm (F) and 3.5 mm (E)

Tessellation Nation - First Five Petal Flower Inset

I’ve also been making good progress on my Tessellation Nation since my redesign effort.  I’ve made my first five petal flower and set it in, and started on the bottom right hand corner, which has a new frame color - purple!  The outlines for two Mandalas are emerging.  I also ripped out the stars that I had done and redid them, as I didn’t like the center construction on them.  The pattern has you do a round of single crochets (14 plus a slip stitch join, for 15 stitches) and then a round of 30 half-double crochets, two per single crochet, which was just unwieldy.  First I tried working twenty triple crochets in 5 sets of four with a chain between each set, and that fit, but I wasn’t crazy about the look.  I pondered the problem on our daily walk and when I came back I checked to see if the first two rounds of the pentagon 1 would work, and it did.  So now that is how I work my stars.  I did change the beginning of round 2 so I start with chain three and a double crochet into the same stitch.  That way when I finish the round I am ready to work into the chain space for the first join and the first star point.  I work a single crochet into the chain space, join and then work another single crochet into the chain space before working the star point.  I always use a magic ring for my centers, which allows me to cinch up the piece to fit the space nicely.

Pattern:  Tessellation Nation by Sue Maton 

Yarn:  Scheepjes Terrazzo

Hook:  3.75 mm (F), 3.5 mm (E)

Tessellation Nation - Progress on Bottom Left Corner

So I did a little redesign on my Tessellation Nation last week and maxed out the Medallion and Mandala flowers.  That did require me to rip out about a half dozen pentagons, but I’ve made good progress since the change.

The colors are not strictly correct - more of a suggestion, and I’m thinking of swapping the light and dark purple, but we will see what happens as I go.

Pattern:  Tessellation Nation by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Scheepjies Terrazo

Hook:  3.75 mm (F) and 3.5 mm (E)

Tessellation Nation - Bottom Left Corner Started!

Last Tuesday I finally started working on this project in earnest.  I have a design, with basic (frame) colors picked.

And I have bought a pallet of yarn in colors that I like that more or less corresponds to the colors in my design.

So last Tuesday morning I pulled out skeins and started arranging them into colorways and came up with the color scheme for the lower left corner.

I’m not sure if the first two pentagon circles that I made will make it into the blanket now, but that is okay.  So far I’ve only been working the Pentagon 1 pattern, which has double crochets for round two.  There is also a Pentagon 2 pattern that has puffs for round two and the pattern recommends that you try to use them in roughly equal proportions.  But when I made a Pentagon 2 and started to join it to one of my Pentagon 1 circles I just didn’t like it.  I’ve been putting off working the Pentagon 2 pattern because I’m just not a big fan of puffs.  I’m thinking about just not doing any of the Pentagon 2 pattern, and leaving all of the texture for the flowers.  Now that I’ve worked all the pentagons in the bottom left corner I’ve started working my way to the right, where I need to transition to the purple frame color.  So I’ve pulled out my purples and added them to my color lineup.  I’m going to keep the interior colors the same, I think, and just change the frame color.  We’ll see how it works out.  There is a lot of “figure it out as you go” with this blanket, which means that I’m taking things slow and letting ideas marinate and inspiration come as it will.

Pattern:  Tessellation Nation by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Scheepjies Terrazzo

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Tessellation Nation - And so it begins…

I have finally started working on Tessellation Nation.  Most of the motifs have been released, which will give my a lot of freedom in my assembly, although she does have a recommended order of construction, and I will follow it, to a certain extent.  I know that lots of folks are varying the colors in their pentagons, because the frame color is really the important one, but I like things a bit more orderly, so have not been varying mine.  I do have a layout and a general color scheme, but there are still a lot of things that I am sorting out as I go, so I am going slow, and letting the design and color decisions come naturally.  I have lots of other crafting projects that I can work on while my subconscious mind ponders the next step.  I am using the recommended yarn - Scheepjes Terrazzo.  I had ordered some colors to get me started, so that is what I’m working with for now, and ordered some more last week to help fill out my pallet.

I do think that this is going to be a grand adventure, and I’m going to savor the journey.

Pattern:  Tessellation Nation by Sue Maton of The Mercerie

Yarn:  Scheepjes Terrazzo 

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Wallflowers - Finished!

After almost a year, I have finally finished my Wallflowers blanket.  The course started on April 2, 2024 although I didn’t start actually working on it until May 20, 2024, finishing it up on March 26, 2025.  It is beautiful and I am very happy with it, as is Jezebel, who has claimed it as her own.  

This photo was taken before it was finished.  It is folded up on a plastic box that holds the leftover yarn from the project.  At the start of the project that box was completely full.  She really likes the arrangement, so I think it will stay.

Blocking was straightforward.

As recommended by Sue, I pinned it out on my blocking mats and did a light steam with my iron.  Now I can focus on Tessellation Nation.  I was really hoping to finish Wallflowers up in December before Tessellation Nation started on January 1, but I fell down the spinning rabbit hole and was distracted.  I ordered more yarn yesterday (I only had 12 colors selected, and she recommends more - she used 30) and will finally start working through the video lessons again.  I had paused when I got to the crocheting part.  I’ve been downloading files and setting up the project in knitCompanion.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook:  3.75 mm (F) and 3.5 mm (E) for the border

 

Wallflowers - Half-hexi’s Finished!

All I have left to do now is the trim.  Jezebel has already claimed the blanket as hers, which can make working on it a bit of a challenge at times.  The fact that I’m working with dark yarn and want good natural light to avoid eye strain also narrows the window of activity.  I do love the way that it is coming out.  I need to get this finished so that I can focus on Tesselation Nation, which I have not even started - other than coming up with a potential motif arrangement and color scheme.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton, The Mercerie

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Wallflowers - Hexis Finished!

I finished up the last of the full hexis last night.  Now I just have the half-hexis on the top and the bottom (13 on each edge) and then I can work the border and this will be done!  With the darker yarn I am mostly working on this in the afternoon when I have good natural light.  I have the box with the yarn, with the blanket folded on top next to my daybed so that I can work on it whenever my cat, Jezebel, is not sleeping on it.

She was actually a bit miffed with me last night because after I finished with the hexis I spent the rest of the evening Netflixing and sewing in ends.  I now have all the ends sewn in.  I have been keeping up with the sewing in ends thing, but I would typically wait until I had completed the next part of the project just to make sure I didn’t have to rip back.  If I were keeping to that plan I would not have sewn in the ends for all for my dark purple hexis, but I decided to sew all of them in.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

 

Wallflowers - 44 Popcorns and 8 Pebbles Incorporated!

I have been focusing almost exclusively on this project, wanting to finish it up before the Tesselation course starts in January.  I finished up the popcorns this past week, and managed to get them all incorporated into the blanket in just a few days of focused work.

As you can see, I had already started incorporating the popcorns when I took this photo. I had also already incorporated 4 of the pebbles - those were added once their spaces were created.  The last four I added after add the popcorns.  I had to lay it out on the kitchen floor in order to have enough space, and enough light to take a picture.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Wallflowers - Sixty-Eight Puffs Incorporated!

Having finished up some deadline knitting, I am back to working on my Wallflowers and today I got the rest of the sixty-eight puffs from Chapter 8 Part 1 through Part 3 incorporated.  I worked these in production mode.

I took a page from Kim and Betsy on the Fleece and Harmony video podcast and started putting my rings onto knitting needles to corral them and keep them safe.

I also have the eight Pebbles made for Part 4.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Wallflowers - Dark Corners Done!

I finally finished connecting the corners for my blanket.  Of course I worked in production mode style on the flowers themselves.

I finished them up back on September 29.  Jezebel helped by curling up on the blanket when I was attaching them.  Now I’m on to Chapter 8 and making 68 puff hexis, once again working in production mode so I’m making all of the center rings (round 1), and then I’ll do all of round 2, etc.  So far I’ve made 17 of round 1 rings in my B4 color.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

 

Wallflowers - Daisy Chain Done!

Once I had given my elbow a rest, and finished a couple of other knitting projects, I got back to my Wallflowers.  For the next step I had to make 50 popcorns using two of my leaf colors.  Once again I did them in production fashion, Working all 50 of the first round, and then working the second round.  Working the last two rounds and joining them to the blanket took a couple of nights.  I printed out the schematic that showed their placement and crossed them off as I joined them.  As you can see, Jezebel approves.

Here they are in progress.  You can see the first round rings on the right, and the second round popcorns on the left.

And here they are all finished, neatly lined up in five columns of ten.

It is so hard to get a good photo of the blanket.

The next step are the dark flowers that go in the corners.  I am making good progress on those, working them once again in a production fashion.  There are only 12 of these, 4 in one colorway and 8 in another colorway.  I did not get a picture until I had already started on the fourth round.

But you can see the two different colorways.

And here I have finished the fourth round on the 4 to the right, and have started the fourth round on the 8 to the left.

And here they all are with their fifth rounds completed.  They use the same colors, but in different order.  At this point I have woven in all of the ends except the ones for the fifth round.  I like to wait until I have worked at least the next round just in case I made a mistake.  I did actually make a mistake on the third round on one of them and had to rip back and fix it.  Fortunately I leave a pretty good tail and it was just one double crochet that I was missing.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook: 3.75 mm (F)

Wallflowers - Large Flowers Done!

I actually finished placing all of the large flowers back on August 5th, but things have just been a bit busy lately and I didn’t get around to blogging about it.  I did all of the flowers production style - working all the rounds of each color until I got to the point where they needed to be integrated.

Here are flowers ready to be integrated.  I think that is all 14, and the picture was taken back on July 21, so it took me a little while to get them all integrated.  I typically did one or two a session.

Integrating the flowers was also complicated by the fact that if I set the blanket aside my cat would settle on it almost immediately.  She really likes to curl up on my wooly things.

I have started the elements for the next part - the Popcorns for the Daisy Chain.  I have all of my centers done and am working on the popcorn part.  I’ve taken a little break from this project to finish the Canby Cardi, which is a present for my step-daughter for her wedding next month.  I’ve also been experiencing a bit of tendonitis in my right elbow, which the crochet aggravates, but the knitting does not, so a break from the crochet is also necessary to allow it to heal.  I am looking forward to getting back to my Wallflowers!

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)

Wallflowers - Filling the Void!

Once I had integrated in the large 3D flowers I started working on filling the void.  Instead of making all of the pieces and then integrating them, I worked in stages, integrating as I went.  I still did each flower in a production mode, working each color on each flower before moving on to the next color, and then integrating them in.

First up were the popcorns. 

I did start out making the darkest ones for the center, but then switched my approach and focused on the ones with the leaf colors that were the first to be integrated. 

Next up were the four pebbles.  It was fun seeing the void getting filled in.

Then the puffs.

The last two puffs, and the final popcorns.  When I got to this point I almost ripped back and switched my B3 and B4.

This photo has B2, with B3 and B4 swapped, and B5.  But I decided I preferred the Rage next to the Pink Bliss, so I left it as is.  All my ends are woven in, and I’m working on more Pebbles for placing the Large Flowers.  I am back into production mode, working all 30 of round 1 and all 30 of round 2 before I started on the Pebble stitch for Round 3.  I have also split the in-progress flowers into two groups, for the two different leaf colors for the Pebble round.

Pattern:  Wallflowers by Sue Maton

Yarn:  Rowan Felted Tweed DK

Hook:  3.75 mm (F)