The final three!

With one day to spare, the final three hats are done.  There's a man's chunky blue and black hat, a lady's dk dark red hat, and a newborn dk hat.  As ever, I've been combining yarns make inroads into the donated coned yarns and to get different weights, so the man's hat is a strand of black aran and a strand of blue 4 ply , while the lady's hat is 2 strands of 2 ply red wool/cotton and a strand of 2 ply grey mix (probably acrylic, but I can't be sure).  The baby hat is made of some King Cole Bin Ends yarn which is very pretty and puts me in mind of cup cakes sprinkled with hundreds and thousands!

This completes my self-set challenge to complete 12 boys' jumpers and 52 hats in one year.  This target has certainly spurred me to knit and crochet more this year than I have previously.  The donations of yarn that I have collected on behalf of Loving Hands this year have also encouraged me to think more laterally about what I can make and how I can combine yarns to get different effects.  I have used up almost 16 kilos of yarn since January, without counting December's finished items.

I have, however, decided not to set any targets for 2017.  It will be interesting to see whether I use up just as much yarn when I am free to make whatever I like.

There is one final item that I finished off just after Christmas.

I took these two cones from my stash in November.  They are both 4 ply, and the bright pink is very bright!  The paler pink is from a range called Magicolour, and has a rainbow of other colours running through it.  Working directly from the cones, so no ends to darn in, I started a corner-to-corner blanket.  This photo gives you an idea of the different colours:

The completed blanket is 42 inches square and looks like this:

It is bright and cheery and will be going to Chemogiftbags, a charity which provides support for people undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Happy New Year everyone, and thank you for reading and commenting on my posts in 2016.