It’s been a strange time, I am still crafting daily and reading a lot as well, sometimes it’s been hard to get motivated but even if it just 1 row or prepping an item it feels as if I have achieved something. Annoyingly I am sleeping like a newborn baby and waking every 3 hours or so which doesn’t help. Sometimes I can get straight back to sleep other times it’s a couple of hours and I always fall into a deep sleep an hour before I need to be up for work. I had a lovely birthday with some nice gifts, some coronation yarn that I had wanted but couldn’t / wouldn’t buy because of stash busting, my favourite Flower and White Meringue bars which are scrumptious, some books , some L’Occitane toiletries including an exfoliating bar I have never tried before and a Nana charm. It’s strange now that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel with my husband for his treatment it’s as if my body has now taken all the stress of the situation which I was getting on with but not necessarily dealing with and is saying deal with me now. I am making sure I am taking care of myself and trying not to stress over things I have no control over but I really wish I had one hobby that was less sedentary, I want to want, to go for a run or a brisk walk or a session on an exercise bike but that is unfortunately not the case.

I wasn’t going to buy any more yarn but Milli at Tribe Yarns kept posting such inspiring posts on Instagram I joined her Mabel Cocoknits KAL. This is my first Tribe KAL and my first Cocoknits pattern, one of the reasons I decided to join is that this is exactly the jumpers pattern I need and I had stash I could knit it in. One of the special things about the cocoknits method is the way her shoulders and sleeves are done with out seaming. She also has a helpful sweater workshop sheet which once you read the patterns and write EXACTLY what they say makes an easy at a glance guide for increases. This is an at a glance guide for what I do with most garments I knit, as I always write out my rows with columns for increase or decreases. One of the good things about Mabel was the way it can be tried on at various stages and adjusted as necessary. This was a great help on the sleeves as mine are quite a few centimetres shorter than the pattern suggests. As I dislike knitting sleeves in the round once the body has been completed, I worked a few rows of the body then, completed the sleeves. This has enabled me to get perfect length sleeves. When purchasing my yarn Isager 3 for the KAL I decided to buy the sweater workshop book which comes with a few patterns as well. This was invaluable when first knitting it as it explained all the techniques and abbreviations very clearly with excellent photos, Milli explained everything in the weekly zoom meetings which were extremely informative and inspiring, but sometimes you need to just pick a book up and check. The only thing I did find perplexing was the increase abbreviations as I know them by M1R or M1L and these are almost in reverse, once I locked it in my head exactly which it was knitting progressed quickly. I would definitely do another Tribe KAL and knit more Cocoknits, will probably do another Mabel with more stash. I didn’t use the yarn I bought from Tribe Yarns as I wanted something that would be okay to undo and reknit if I had to as it was a new technique. I used Rowan British Sheep Breeds Chunky and a strand of a silk lace yarn both from deep stash, whilst sorting out the craft area for supplies for my granddaughter to take into schoolI found some glittery heart beads which I am randomly placing all over the front until I run out. When I knit another one I will make the sleeves the next size down.

This month it has mainly been knitting. I am still working on my Waltzer cape , which for some reason I keep calling Weaver and have decided to add some randomly placed beads to it. Not colours I would normally wear but with the green Fyberspates cobweb yarn and the beads it adds a bit of colour. Candy cane hat is coming along slowly, I think it’s due to the small tips on the circular, might need to swap to DPNs. The Anthology shawl is still on the needles and am finding I can only knit this when watching the TV as it is getting a bit boring at the current stage. It hasn’t escaped my notice that both these garments have a strong Brown colouring, I do not generally wear brown so am a little perplexed as to why I have so much in my stash.

This year,with my husband still undergoing treatment but thankfully stable, I am making a concerted effort to log my crafting. My granddaughter has requested a monthly sewing day so we shall be doing that. She also has learnt to knit and can pick it up and put it down with ease. I’ve always logged what I’ve made but this year, am doing a daily checkin as I aim to craft every day. Still wearing a mask when in crowded places, on public transport or it’s cold as that stops me coughing.

2021 Has been a rollercoaster, more so than 2020 for me. I’m not sure why, what I do notice, after the fact of course, is that how much I have been crafting has a direct effect on my moods. The times where I haven’t crafted definetley have a downward effect on my moods. Now I TRY and keep simple mindless project on the needles for such moments. I mentioned last year about my plan to craft 60 projects this year. I am on track but I haven’t had the headspace to write blog pieces. I have kept an old school notebook with all the details so I am going to publish monthly posts retrospectively- I think that’s the right word- for each month.

This year has been a rollercoaster of emotions. I have been lucky enough to work from home and after a rejig of the sewing/workspace/bedroom is a better place to be.

I have done a fair amount of crafting but have become more introvert, which is the reason this hasn’t been updated for a while. I truly believe that however bad the situation there is always a silver lining even it is a sliver of one.

I did get a lot of crafting done this year and I donated sackfuls of fabric to good causes , made hundreds of masks and spent a fair amount of time on video calls with family members

From March I left my house 6 times, once for my flu jab, three times to visit the grandchildren as they weren’t going anywhere- still socially distance and we visited a socially distanced English Heritage grounds. Other than these I have been confined to barracks. I am resigned to spending Christmas at home with me and my partner and I feel it will be more relaxed than normal

I am lucky I have a roof over my head, food in the cupboard and a craft supply to keep me going for a while.

Looking forward to saying goodbye to 2020 and forward to 2021