#TCKnewtricksKAL complete!

Well it’s been a great KAL on the Tin Can Knits Ravelry group!

With 2016 the Year to Learn Something New here at Tin Can Knits, for our first KAL we challenged you to complete a project which included a technique that was new to you.

There were a grand total of 163 finished entries!  And 238 folk joined in for the chat, shared suggestions, and pretty photos of their projects in process too.

yarn + pattern prizes!

Winner #1: One skein of Rainbow Heirloom Twinkle Light in ‘driftwood’ plus a Tin Can Knits pattern of your choice!  This lovely combo goes to packerfan36

Winner #2: One skein of Rainbow Heirloom Merino Light in ‘orchid’ plus a Tin Can Knits pattern of your choice!  This lovely combo goes to Shannon41

Winner #3 (Alexa’s choice): One skein of Rainbow Heirloom Solo Light in ‘cherry’ plus a Tin Can Knits pattern of your choice!  This lovely combo goes to maplethedog

She made the Drift shawl , beautiful eh?

what did knitters set out to learn?

A lot of folk (myself included) learned to knit brioche!  I made Stephen West’s Syncopation Adoration hat, but I cut it a bit short so it would fit Max.  I experimented with all sorts of colourful scraps of Rainbow Heirloom Sweater.

Some of the colour combinations are a little jarring, some are beautiful, but I love the overall scrappy effect.  I think I probably need to knit another brioche project or two, to practice increases and decreases further before I’m 100% comfortable with this technique.

Once the hat was finished, it was difficult to choose which should be the ‘right side’ and which would be the ‘wrong side’.  I wanted to add a pompom, or the hat could have been reversible.  Which do you think is better?  I chose the one on the right in the end… but both have their appeal.

wrong side?

right side!

other lovely #TCKnewtricksKAL projects

There were a lot of knitters who made Gather hats or cowls to learn the smocking technique (it’s EASY and very effective… check out our tutorial here).  And many others tried steeking for the first time.  Socks were a popular new technique, some people knit them for the first time, and others learned methods like knitting socks TTAT (two at a time) using the magic loop method.  Here are a few photos of the finished projects, but you can check them all out here.

Ashley2014

KatColorado2

Sonjers

tatiealexe

sunflowerknit

spazzy27

lovest

mamaholmes

mysparklyshoes

crochetgeekgirl

bhandsaker

thesejoys

yarnbird

Some sweaters: ashley1214’s paloma, KatColorado2’s oranje, Sonjers’s tuscarora.

A lovely shawl, tatiealexe’s emiliana, and beautiful socks: sunflowerknit’s oxidized and spazzy27’s the lady of lorien.

Some tiny joggers: lovest’s rocky

And so many beautiful hats and cowls… mamaholmes’s gather, mysparklyshoes’s castlelaw, crochetgeekgirl’s sitka spruce, bhandsaker’s bespeckled beanie, thesejoys’s liguria, and yarnbird’s icelandic star cowl

‘New Tricks’ projects from TCK: