A week with only one project? Practically unheard of!

This past week I only worked on the playmat for my nieces. Mostly because my motivation was still running high on it (new project and all) and also partly because my brain didn't want to focus on any complicated patterns due to having a cold/flu/horrific-alien-plague.

 

Flashback to my post last week - here was the playmat with the areas drawn out and a few borders stitched

 

And here we are a week later -

 

I think I've made a good amount of progress. All the outer and main borders are done, and even started filling in the road and part of the grass by the fields. The lower row has been widened and had curves added since last week. I've decided to shrink the fields a little to leave more room for the barn and animals I want in that section. The roads and water will all be outlined in the brown (think dirt on the shore and shoulders on the road) and I've already done over half of that.

The bit of progress I'm happiest about is the latchhook grass.

On my first playmat I used one main color for that section with just a couple clumps of different colors. It looks okay, but it is a little too dark and not ... Fun

 

This time around, to make it look more interesting, I am using three sets of three colors - middle greens for the main grass, lighter greens for small bushy areas, and then a dark green with red and pink for a flower look.

 

Some of the colors are from a latch hook set I picked up cheap at the thrift store, but most came from the giant bag of odds and ends scrap yarn given to me by a couple of the ladies in my knitting group. Those pieces I cut to size myself using a template made from plastic canvas. I wind the yarn around it and then cut along one of the long sides. It isn't perfect, but the small variation there is in sizes makes the grass look more natural.

And here is how it looks when the colors are all put together. It might be less realistic, but it is much more interesting to look at.

 

I really like how it's shaping up. Almost enough to make me want to redo that section on the first mat. Almost. I will definitely do something similar if I ever get around the making the castle set.

 

So, that was my week. I still plan on working on the playmat some more this next week, but don't expect quite as much progress next time. I have some neglected WIPs that are calling out for attention.

Plus there's this blanket kit I got for my birthday practically demanding to be cast on ...

 

 

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