A Quick Finish

 I had some leftovers of 4 ply and kidsilk mohair from my mum's Susurrus sweater, so a hat seemed the thing to do.

As a quick leftovers project I didn't want it to be too complex and I fould the pattern on the Drops website - it's from the Crimson Crush set. I really enjoyed the quick aspect of this project - all done in less than two weeks - I didn't love the 1x1 rib (although I'll probably make something similar if circumstances arise!).

Knitting Class

 I took part in my first ever Zoom knitting class yesterday organised by Tangled Yarn. The class was an explanation and practice of the colourwork techniques in the Scout shawl by the designer Florence Spurling.

I don't know if you've come across the Scout shawl but it looks like a patchwork of fairisle blocks and its knitted flat, not in the round and steeked which is more common for fairisle.

We started off with the basics of intarsia, followed by stranded colourwork (which turns out not to be too tricky worked on the wrong side).

We then moved onto combining the two techniques into a swatch for the shawl. This is where the fun began - six balls of yarn with the need to twist them (intarsia) at the beginning of each new block. One of the main challenges seems to be keeping the yarns untangled.

Only a small sample but I think I've got the hang of the technique. I feel more confident with starting the Scout shawl. I need to decide on my yarn colours and then find a suitable quiet period in which to start as this will take concentration and yarn tangling skills!

What about the KALs?

 I posted last Autumn that I was going to join in with Joji Locatelli's Fall KAL and also with Stephen West's Mystery KAL. Joji's had a six week window in which to complete a Joji designed item; the MKAL was being released over 4 weeks but with no completion deadline.

So how did I do?

Well both items have been finished, but not until last week.

As I was knitting a Susurrus sweater, by Joji, for my mum for Xmas I decided to make that my entry for the Joji KAL.

 I was able to give my mum the sweater to open on Xmas day (without a waistband as we needed to check it for length) but I was nowhere near the KAL deadline.

The MKAL took second place to the sweater, for obvious reasons, but that was finished apart from the blocking, on 6 Jan and even though the Mystery aspect makes me nervous I love the finished item...but I am definitely not taking part in the 2022 MKAL, too many other things I want to knit.

And I still have the KAL bug as I am now taking part in the Yarniacs Self Indulgent KAL - more about that soon.

2021 Plan - The Outcome

I think that the main outcome of my 2021 plan is that I shouldn't plan my makes (or at least not as many of them) as I get distracted by new and shinys or the need to make a gift.

The list as of end of June:

1 Aran squares x 3 (WIP) 
2 Xmas Stars (WIP) 
3 Wedding quilt (WIP) 
4 Jessa trousers
5 Grace 2/ Marguerite 
6 Lovenote sweater (WIP) 

7 Jonie
8 Xmas mini
9 Socks x 7 (WIP) 

10 Jessa shorts
11 Snowflake quilt
12 Billie dress
13 Billie top
14 Hitofude
15 Bird quilt 

16 Cross stitch bookmark (MIA) 
17 Rainbow quilt (WIP) 
18 Xmas Lucy's Terrace

19 Cat quilt 
20 Jumping dots
21 Bag

All I can add from June is that the Jessa trousers are cut out and a different cat quilt is now planned.

I finished a Jonie dress...

...and some socks...

(two and a half pairs if anyone's counting!).

But I did make plenty not on my list...

...and another Susurrus sweater and several toiles for pyjamas.

All in all I'm happy with what I've made and I'm pretty certain I'm just going freestyle in 2022!