Tuesday, January 1, 2013

12 Shawls in 2012

I did it!  I successfully completed 12 knitted shawls in 2012.



I have not yet published posts on 2 of the 12 shawls.  I wanted to wait until the new year to share these posts because I did not want the recipients to come across the shawl project late in the year and realize it was a gift for them. (I had figured that presents I finished in March wouldn't be too suspicious!)  

What were the 12 shawls?  Here is a summary:

  1. Rough Sea Shawl - Palette Fingering Yarn, 395 yards, Size 7 needles
  2. Elly (Dressed Up) - Palette Fingering Yarn, 365 yards, Size 7 needles
  3. Diantha (Mystery KAL Shawl) - Shadow Lace Yarn, 325 yards, Size 7 needles
  4. Ginkgo Shawl - Palette Fingering Yarn, 452 Yards, Size 7 needles
  5. Annis - Alpaca Cloud Lace Yarn, 282 Yards, Size 7 needles
  6. Hitchhiker - Stroll Tonal Fingering Yarn, 471 yards, size 4 needles
  7. Venemous Tentacula - Malabrigo Fingering Yarn, 400 yards, Size 7 needles
  8. Color Affection* -  Palette Fingering Yarn,  822 Yards, Size 6 needles
  9. Hitchhiker #2 - Palette Fingering Yarn (Handdyed by me!), 443 yards, Size 4 needles
  10. Daybreak - Palette Fingering Yarn, 378 yards, Size 4 Needles Post will be published in February.  
  11. Rock Island* - Grinning Gargoyle Shimmer Lace, 551 Yards, Size 6 needles
  12. Hitchhiker #3 - Lost City Knits PathWays Fingering Yarn, 412 Yards, Size 6 needles Post will be published in a few days
    * 2 Large shawls of > 546 yards.   

Here are some fun statistics.  Of the 12 shawls:
  • 9 were knit in fingering weight, 3 in lace weight
  • 9 required blocking (the Hitchhikers were not blocked)
  • 7 were knit from stash yarn (purchased prior 2012 began and without the intention of the project it was ultimately used for.) 
  • 6 were knit with Palette (including the one dyed by me)
  • 4 patterns were received as Random Acts of Kindness gifts
  • 3 patterns are available for free online
  • 2 used dye purchased from independent dyers at festivals
  • 1 yarn was dyed by me (not counted as stash)
  • 1 non counting shawl (I technically cast on for Polaris in Dec 2011, although I did 99% of the knitting in 2012.)

I know that I won't be able to have >50% of the shawls in 2013 kind out of stash yarn.  This is mainly because there is yarn I purchased for specific shawls this year that I didn't end up knitting.  I have already received two patterns as RAKs that I already had yarn picked out for.  Here are some goals for 2013:

  • 1 shawl of my own design
  • 1 shawl out of my hand spun yarn
  • 2 shawls out of my hand dyed yarn
  • 1 crochet shawl
  • Don't let every shawl be purple
I hope you have had as much fun following my shawl progress as I did knitting them. It felt GREAT to have an idea of the gifts for the women in my family when the year had just started.