Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Free Valentine's Day Crochet Patterns

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and I often like to think about what I can make in terms of Valentines.   Handmade valentines can be a unique way to surprise your valentine.  Recently I have started to love crochet motifs because I am finding it easier to create tiny crochet items than it is to knit mini creations.  In my research, I have come across dozens of free crochet Valentine's Day patterns.  The following are some of my favorites broken into three sections: Valentine's Day Crochet Patterns, Heart Crochet Patterns and Love Themed Crochet Patterns.  Enjoy!  


Valentine's Day Crochet Patterns - These patterns are named for the holiday of love, or at least the commercialized holiday that we all celebrate now on February 14th.
Valentines Tablecloth
This tablecloth is constructed from a series of crochet hearts.
Valentines Cupcake
This cupcake looks good enough to eat. There is a tiny heart on top of it.
Valentine Monster
I have never seen a creature like this in my life!
Valentine Envelope
Crochet an envelope for your love notes.
Valentine Button
This reminds me of a mint.
Valentine Heart Doily
There is a rose in the center of this heart shaped doily.
Valentine Dishcloth
A red and white square
Valentine's Scarf
Composed of a series of crochet hearts.
Valentine Afghan
Lacy hearts are in the center of each square.
Valentines Day Elephant
This stuffed elephant has a heart shaped body.
Crochet Valentine heart-shaped table mat and serviette ring
Perfect for a romantic meal.
------------------------------------------

Free Heart Crochet Patterns -  A crochet heart is a simple gift to give to your Valentine. While there are thousands of heart themed crochet patterns available, I have selected a few of the best ones to get your started.
Heart Strings Napkin Tie
These look almost like heart shaped cherries. A great addition to your Valentine's Day Decor.
Heart Afghan Square
A very simple white heart created out of colorwork.
Heart Motif
This is the kind of pattern that makes me want to learn how to crochet. A 2D heart.
Heart bookmark
A lacy bookmark with the hearts connected in a column.
Heart Pocket Pal Pillow
There is a pocket where you can hide a note to you Valentine.
Heart Fridgie
A tiny 2D crochet heart. Make a bunch of these to use as a garland to decorate your home for a Valentine's Day Party.
Heart Garland
String up the love!
Hearts
Have fun with these stuffed amigurumi hearts by embroidering little faces on them.
------------------------------------------

Free Love Themed Crochet Patterns - While these may not have been specifically designed for Valentine's Day, you can't go wrong creating one of these LOVEly crochet projects. 
Hearts Border With Love Free Chart
The word love is spelled out and surrounded by hearts. This would make a good bread cover for your Valentine's Day Dinner.
Love Bugs
Little stuffed hearts with legs
Love is the word
The word Love is stuffed and 3D
Love Bug
He has heart shaped wings. What a fun little valentine!
LOVE blanket
The squares in the blanket spell out LOVE.
Clover Heart
If your love is Irish, or if you want your valentine to be useful for St. Patrick's Day, then this is a good pattern for you.
Amigurumi Love Bug
Looks like a ladybug without the spots.
Amigurumi Love Birds
A simple cute pair of love birds.
The Love Nest
The crochet pattern contains a little nest for your crochet love birds to fit in. These birds are my favorite shape.
Nesting love birds
These love birds also have a little nest.
--------------------------------------------------
This pattern search was previously published on Sqiudoo. However, since they decided to punish articles with high link density, specifically mentioning knitted patterns*, I have decided to move some of my pattern searches here to ChemKnits.  The research gone into producing these lists and comments are100% my own as I was the original author of the Squidoo lens valentines-day-crochet-patterns under the username chemknitsblog. 

*"We understand that years ago there was value is creating a lens with a lot of links to a particular topic like knitted owl patterns or places to buy Ford Mustang parts or Disney coloring pages.However our new standards state that you need to use links in moderation..." - Squidoo HQ

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Crochet baby blanket


The Beautiful Baby Blanket by Bernat Design Studio is the most complex crochet project I've ever attempted, mainly because it is a mixture of different stitches rather than DC across the round.  Not to mention that it requires some back and forth.  I'm just much more comfortable crocheting in the round!  

I decided to swatch this piece on my size G crochet hook (4.0 mm) to determine whether I liked the pattern AND to determine the sizing.  Another Raveler determined that Foundation chain length: L = 11 + 8n where n = number of pattern repeats.   For my swatch I chained 27 stitches (so 2 repeats plus the edges.)   The first row of the swatch had one extra CH at the end, but this was easy enough to unravel.   But I had an extra stitch, looks to me more like 10+ 8n....


It wasn't clear to me if this is a pattern of 2 rows of directions since the directions seem to imply that you repeat the second row all the way through...  After starting the swatch, I can see how Row 1 is a set up round and Row 2 is what you do going forward.  Reading directions is important!    Looks like the very last row is to make the bottom edge scalloped like the top edge.  Very nice.  


I learned from the swatch that I want the foundation chain to be really loose so that there is some stretch preserved at the edge.  The swatch of 2 repeats + edge = 5 inches.  Two repeats measures ~ 3.5"  This would put me on par for a ~36" wide blanket if I followed the directions exactly.  I'm planning on crocheting until I run out of yarn.  but I don't want the blanket to be too misshapen...  In the end I decided to follow the pattern as written.  If I only end up with 10" of depth (I should end up with more) it will be fine, or if it is longer than it is wide, that will also be fine. 


Sherry gave me 3 balls of the Pingouin Pingorex Baby yarn (50 g each) last Christmas.  I know she selected the yarn because of the Pingouin brand (we love penguins!) but it turned out to be great since we are having a baby boy.  The color is Guimauve 610002 (0311).  The yarn is 100% acrylic but is super soft... but unfortunately it squeaks A LOT.  

The first few rows of the blanket
Yardage Notes - I intend to crochet until I run out of yarn to make this baby blanket as big as possible.  However, I need to make sure I will have enough yarn left over for one row on the starting edge.  Therefore, I will keep some yarn weight notes to get a sense of how much I will want to have left over.
  • Ball 1 - 53 g
  • After 4 completed rows, 39 g remain.  The piece measures about 2" thick.  
  • After 5 complete rows, 36 g remain.  
  • After 7 rows complete, 30 g remain.  ~3.5" long. I really hope that the blanket will be at least 24" long.  
  • After 9 rows, 22 g remain.  I'm starting to wish that I had "cast on" fewer stitches so it would be less wide.  Right now I think that the end should be 21-24x36, which is a little narrow.  I will try to steam block the acrylic to get some more length out of it.  
  • After 11 rows, 15 g remain.  5.5" unblocked, 6.5 blocked (not the most aggressive... but reasonable puling.)  
  • After 13 rows, 8 g remain.  
  • After 14 rows, 5g remain.  7" unblocked, >9" blocked.  This shawl/blanket seems to be 33" wide when I've "blocked" height wise it a bit (but the width may expand when I block it for real).  It looks like my rectangle isn't going to be SO warped.  
  • After 15 rows, 1 g remain.  The edge can block to ~10 inches when pulled taught, the interior could block further.  
  • Ball 2 - 51 g, started part way into row 16.  
  • After 19 rows, 38 g remain. 9" unblocked, 13" blocked.  
  • After 22 rows, 28 g remain.  
  • After 23 rows, 25 g remain. This is likely the half way point.  Theoretically this could be blocked to 16" wide, which means that I have a shot of getting the blanket to 36" x 32", not bad dimensions at all!  Alternatively I will look for some pale blue fingering weight acrylic yarn to use for edging on either size to expand it a bit.  (I'd prefer to not need to do this.)    Unblocked it measures 11"
  • After 28 rows, 8 g remain.  Can be blocked to 20"
  • After 29 rows, 4 g remain.  
  • Ball 3 - 52 g, started near the beginning of row 31.  
  • After 35 rows, 35 g remain.  Can be blocked to 26"
  • After 39 rows, 22 g remain.  
  • After 42 rows, 12 g remain. 
  • After 43 rows, 8 g remain.  This is likely the second to last row before I do the one row border at the bottom!  
  • After 44 rows, 4 g remain.  Time to cut the yarn and crochet the last row on the foundation chain edge.  I really hope that I have enough yarn to make it across that whole row, especially since my rows have been averaging 3-4 g.  
  • Row 45:  It was hard to remember what the RS of the blanket is since it is technically reversible.  The corner of the blanket with the  yarn end was the beginning of the foundation chain.  If that piece of yarn is in the bottom - left corner then I am looking at the RS of the fabric.  That corner is where I will connect the yarn for row #45.  (After the fact, I noticed that it said to join with sl-stitch to the first ch of the foundation chain... this is what I get for not reading directions carefully enough!)
    It looks like each stitch is being worked into the same chain that row 1 was worked.  This looks a little strange to me, but I am going to go with it.   
I HAD ENOUGH YARN TO FINISH!   1 g remains.  


This project took me a lot longer than it should have.  If I had only been working on this project, I think I could have completed it in just over a week.  However, the fish blanket and some other small projects took precedence.  Additionally, I was working on this blanket during the summer, and the acrylic yarn would squeak and stick to my hook if it was too hot/humid.  Those times made it not too fun to crochet.  As soon as the fish blanket was completed, I knew that I wanted to wrap this one up quickly.  (Actually, this one was technically completed first because I was waiting for the edging yarn to arrive for the fish blanket!)  


Blocking - Normally I wet block my projects, but acrylic is a special case and cannot be wet blocked.  I decided to try to block this by "killing" the acylic fibers with steam.  One benefit of blocking acrylic is that these changes are permanent, and should stay through even washing!  I wove in all loose ends before pinning out the blanket.


Boy, it is hard work keeping the iron above the work without letting it touch!  Not to mention sweaty work because of all of the steam.  I emptied the steam compartment of my iron on the lacy baby shawl.  It definitely feels like there is a lot less tension on the blocking wires. I think that I will do a second pass after the iron cools completely and I can add more water.   The second pass may be less effective because there is some water on the fiber left from the first pass which is cool to the touch, this may make it harder for heat to penetrate the fibers.  I'm still happy that I did a second pass, even if it wasn't necessary.  I feel confident that I covered the entire blanket with steam, and am happy that the fibers still feel really good to the touch.  
I know that wet blocking doesn't help with acrylic, but I want to wait for the blanket to dry completely before unpinning it.


Measurement Before Blocking - 22" x 36"
Measurement Pinned - 33" x 38.5"
Measurement After Blocking/unpinning - 32" long x 39" wide


The blocking worked!  When I removed the blocking wires there was no bounce back, and the stitches held their beautiful open pattern.  The pattern was beautiful unblocked, but I am glad that I was able to coax it into better blanket dimensions!  

Friday, January 24, 2014

I'm an AllFreeKnitting Top 100 Designer in 2013!

I have some exciting news to share with all of you... I made AllFreeKnitting's top 100 patterns in 2013 list!


What pattern earned me this honor?  Why it was my free 10 hour afghan knitting pattern!


Bring on the Sub-Zero temperatures, Indy and I are ready to keep warm in this chunky afghan.  Don't have one of your own?  It really only takes 10 hours to knit, check out my time log

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Charlie - A Fishy Baby Hat

Martha Johnson from Fiddlestyx has some incredible baby designs.  These simple silhouettes contain embellishments that elevate these hats to an amazing level.  I knew immediately when I saw the Charlie pattern that I needed to make it for my son.  Our "nursery" theme is under the sea, so our first born absolutely needs a fishy hat!


I selected KnitPicks Comfy Worsted in Ivory (42 yards), Light Blue (29 yards) and Planetarium (33 yards) for this hat.  I wanted to start off knitting a few of the fish embellishments as recommended in the pattern so I could make sure the stripes were the correct width later on.  I knit these fishies on size 2 (2.75 mm) knitting needles.  (After spending so much time knitting fish for my tessellated fish blanket, it feels funny to be making a fish in Planetarium again!)  I used p2tog-tbl and SSK where needed to make the decreases more symmetrical on the fish.


I don't always test gauge for baby hats, but I decided to test out my gauge to see whether I wanted to use size 5 or size 6 needles for the body of the hat.  With size 6 needles, I got 11 sts/2" over stockinette, but easily stretches to the desired gauge of 5 sts/inch.  I will stick with size 6 (4.0 mm) needles.


I am knitting the 0-6 month size hat because my baby is likely going to be a big one and this way the hat will likely fit him for some portion of time!  (13" around).  Since my gauge is a little small, it should fit him as a newborn.  I will try to knit a bit loose to increase my gauge.  

Notes from Construction
  • Stripe 1 - 8 rows completed rows (inc CO) to get to 1.25"
  • Each fish is about 1" wide at the widest point, so 1.5" stripes should be sufficient.
  • Stripe 2 (dark blue) - 10 knit rounds after the purl round.  
  • Stripe 3 (light blue) - 10 knit rounds after the purl round.
  • 9 rows of cream before starting the top shaping.  The hat measures 5.5" total with brim rolled out.  
  • After the top shaping, the hat measures 7" long with the brim rolled out.  6" with the brim rolled up. and 6" wide.    

Each fish is 1.5" wide.  I think that I will want 5 fish for each row and then 2 of each color for the topper, which would be 7 of each fish.  We'll see what I think about the placement once I have them made.  

Sewing the fish to the hat was a bit laborious because I wanted to make sure to have even placement.  I found it was best to pin the fish to the stripe before starting any sewing.



The second row was much easier, since I placed them in the other direction between the fish from the first row.


For the ties at the top of the hat, I decided to make a crochet chain with double strand of the cream yarn and a size D hook.  Icords can be pretty, but I'm not sure if it would really add something to this project.  I pulled the double strand of yarn through the top of the hat, tied it and then chained 2-2.5" before sewing the fish to the chain. 


I am so happy with this finished hat, it is perfect for a coming home outfit for my little boy!  

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Yarn Bowl

This is a goofy thing to make its own post, but I am so excited I couldn't help myself.  I received a yarn bowl for Christmas from my Uncle and Cousins, and I am beside myself with excitement. 


Yarn bowls are great because they keep the ball of yarn from bouncing all over the floor (and getting covered with Indy fur) while you're knitting.  I know that this is going to get a ton of use!  
 

Did you get anything knitting related for the holidays that you're really excited about? 

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

What You Can't Dye with Food Coloring

In my various yarn dyeing videos and tutorials, I always mention what you can and cannot dye with food coloring, and I decided that it was time to actually show what works with these methods.  In the following video, I attempt to dye 100% wool, 100% cotton and 100% acrylic yarns in one pot.


As expected, the 100% wool took up color extremely well and the 100% acrylic yarn did not take any color.  Surprisingly, the cotton obtained a stained appearance that I was unable to wash out during the course of filming.  In comparison to the wool, the cotton received significantly less color.  There are much more reliable methods for dyeing cotton to get vibrant colors (such as a Tulip Tie Dye Kit) and I would recommend trying these rather than wasting a lot of food coloring and vinegar.  

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Vogue Knitting on the Go! Crocheted Shawls

I am obsessed with creating shawls, so when I found out that Vogue Knitting has a book dedicated entirely to shawls (Vogue Knitting on the Go! Crocheted Shawls) I knew that I needed to check it out.

To date, I have made one item of crochet lace (to be published later this month), a baby blanket for my son.  (I counted this as a 2013 shawl because it IS a baby shawl!)  Although I am a novice crocheter, I find that super lacy crochet items easy to understand because the placement and counting is much easier than a denser type fabric.  I was really excited to see what the patterns would be like in this little book.

The book contains 21 shawl patterns and some basic instructions on selecting yarns, blocking and basic crochet stitches.  Please note that you may need an additional "how to crochet" book to help you if you are just learning the craft.  Not all of the shawls are lacy like the one on the cover, there is a good mix of thick/warm shawls and the more lacy variety.  (I just happen to prefer the lacy ones.)

My favorite crochet shawl patterns

  • Broomstick Shawl - The pattern repeat is pretty simple, but it looks a cozy and romantic rectangular shawl.  
  • Star Shawl - This motif shawl is something that I would like better as an afghan than a wrap, but the stars are beautiful and airy. 
  • Linked Shawl - This one almost looks like it is made of knotted ropes or ribbon.  Not my style, but the pattern is AMAZING.
  • Snowflake Shawl (also known as Winter Rose) - Intricate lace, and I think it looks both cozy and fun to create.  


This is a small "on the go" book, so there aren't great detailed photos of each project.  I wish that there were a few more photos of the close up of the shawls, but for a 5.5" x 7" book I can understand there being only 1 picture for each pattern.


Friday, January 10, 2014

Penguin Mitts


As soon as I found the Mini Motif Baby Mittens Pattern I knew that I wanted to knit a penguin for my future child.  I finally had the opportunity to complete this project when I was 7 months pregnant.  Why did it take me so long?  Well I just didn't have the yarn in my stash to make black and white penguins.  (And they HAD to be black and white!)


Is it odd that all of the babies I knit these mitts for were born in October?  I made a monkey set for some good friends and a robot set for my cousin's baby, both born last October, and now my little one is due this October!


These Mitts were knit on size 5 dpn's with KnitPicks Shine Sport yarn in Black (8 g, 18 yards) and White (17 g, 38 yards).  Finished Measurements:  5" Tall, 2.75" Wide.  the desired measurements were 4.5 tall x 3 wide... we'll see how these fit my baby!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Dinosaur Knitting Chart

I love the dinosaur I incorporated into my baby's Christmas stocking design, and I thought it would be worth sharing this dinosaur as a stand alone knitting chart. 

The ChemKnits Dinosaur Knitting Chart - 32 sts x 43 rows


The dinosaur knitting chart itself is pretty big, but I think it would work great on an intarsia sweater or hat.  After knitting one I really want to knit up a few more!  I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I have. 


This this pattern was created by ChemKnits for your personal or charity use. This pattern is not to be replicated, sold or redistributed without permission from ChemKnits. © 2013 ChemKnits

Saturday, January 4, 2014

New England Patriots Hat Knitting Pattern

My dad is a HUGE patriots fan.  Living in Florida, he goes to every game that he can.  In 2012 he went to the New Years game in Boston, which required some cold weather gear.  What if he gets the chance to go to a winter game again?  He NEEDS a Patriots Knit Hat, and I think I am just the daughter to make one for him.


For this project, I decided to modify two of my designs, the Generic Skullcap knitting pattern and the New England Patriots Logo Knitting Chart.  Since the colors are isolated to certain sections of the hat, I am going to use Intarsia versus stranded colorwork techniques.  This means that portions of the hat will be knit in the round, and the portion with the chart will be knit back and forth flat and then have the edge grafted together.  If you prefer to avoid colorwork knitting, you can make the Generic Skullcap and then add the Large Patriots Logo via duplicate stitch.



Materials
  • Worsted weight wool in 4 colors - MC (Granite - 45 g/100 yards), CC1 (red - 2 g/4 yards), CC2 (white - 5 g/11 yards) and CC3 (blue - 5 g/11 yards).  The red white and blue used in this sample are KnitPicks Wool of the Andes.  The Grey MC is Shepherd's Wool from the Stonehenge Fiber Mill in Michigan.  
  • Needles - US Size 6 (4.0 mm) knitting needles (double pointed or circular, whatever your preference is.
  • Gauge - 5 st/inch; 7 rows/inch over stockinette.  Take your time to check your gauge to get a good fitting hat!
  • Misc - Yarn needle for weaving in loose ends. Stitch markers. Bobbins (Optional) for intarsia.
  • Finished Size - 20" circumference, 8" crown to brim.


The Chart


Large Patriots Logo Knitting Chart: 58 sts x 29 rows
Open the chart in a new window to see the details better or download the printable PDF version from Google Drive.


The New England Patriots Hat Knitting Pattern
  • Cast on 100 sts on size 6 knitting needles in MC.  Place marker to indicate the start of the round.
  • Join to knit in the round and knit 8 rows of 2x2 ribbing (~1 inch) as follows: P1, *K2, P2* across to last 3 stitches, K2, P1.
  • Knit 1 round across (still in the round)
  • Prepare for Intarsia.  I used 2 balls of grey yarn (MC), 2 balls of white yarn (CC2), 1 ball of blue (CC3) and 1 ball of red (CC1) to knit the patriots chart in a combination of intarsia with some small amount of stranded knitting.  Feel free to make more little balls of yarn to completely avoid any stranded knitting.
  • Chart Row 1 (RS): K 21 stitches, work the 58 stitches of the chart (Download the PDF from Google Drive for better resolution) starting from the bottom reading the row right to left, K 21 sts.
  • Chart Row 2 (WS):  Turn work, this is the beginning of the flat section.  P 21 sts, work 58 charted stitches in purl, reading the chart from left to right, p 21.  
  • Continue working the remaining rows of the chart FLAT ending with row 29, a RS row. 
  • Now we are going to work in the round again.  DO NOT TURN, but replace the marker to mark the beginning of the round.  
  • Knit 4 rounds across or until the hat measures 6" from the cast on edge.  
  • Begin Crown Decreases:
    • *K8, K2tog* across (90 sts)
    • K 1 round
    • *K7, K2tog* across (80 sts)
    • K 1 round
    • *K6, K2tog* across (70 sts)
    • K 1 round
    • *K5, K2tog* across (60 sts)
    • K 1 round
    • *K4, K2tog* across (50 sts)
    • K 1 round
    • *K3, K2tog* across (40 sts)
    • K 1 round
    • *K2, k2tog* across (30 sts)
    • K1 round
    • *K1, k2tog* across (20 sts)
    • K2tog across (10 sts)
    • K2tog across (5 sts)
  • Cut yarn and pull through remaining stitches. 
  • Graft the seam in the back of the hat from the flat section closed.  Weave in loose ends and enjoy your skullcap!


Pictures through Construction of the Patriots Knit Hat

After completion of the chart, there is a split on the back of the hat that will be sewn closed.  This is what this gap looks like before joining in the round again.


My hat measured 5.5" from the cast on edge when I was done with the chart.


I took pictures of the WS of the chart so you could see where I used intarsia and an intarsia/stranded combination. 


 After the knitting of the hat was completed, there is still the seam from the intarsia section that needs to be sewn closed.  This is what it looks like from the WS before and after sewing.  I used the cast on tail to sew this gap closed.  Mattress Stitch will help this be invisible from the RS. 

WS of hat before Mattress Stitch
WS of the hat after Mattress Stitch
RS of the hat after Mattress stitch - you cannot see it at all!

This hat is special for many reasons.  The Shepherd's Wool I purchased on Mackinac Island while visiting my family last summer.  My parents spend every summer on this small island in the Great Lakes, and it had been years since I'd been able to make a trip up there.  My mom kept it a total surprise that they had a local yarn store inside the drug store! I knew that I wanted to pick up some yarn for this hat for my dad while I was there.   This yarn is a DREAM to knit with, so soft and luxurious. 

Keith is so good for modeling all of my designs!
---------------------------------------
Abbreviations Used in this pattern:
Intarsia - A type of colorwork where you use multiple balls of yarn and back and forth knitting to avoid carrying all of the colors through the entire project.  
RS - Right Side
WS - Wrong Side
Kfb - increase by knitting into the front and back of a single stitch.
M1 (Make 1)- increase stitch by picking up yarn between two stitches, twisting and knitting.
K - knit
P - purl
I-cord - knit stitches on dpn's without ever turning the needle (effectively knitting in the round with a small number of stitches.)
SSK - decrease by slipping two stitches then knitting them together. Alternatively, you could slip one stitch, knit one stitch and pass slipped stitch over.
K2tog - decrease by knitting two stitches together.

These knitting pattern was created by ChemKnits for your personal or charity use. You are not to sell, distribute or reprint this pattern without the permission of ChemKnits. © 2014 ChemKnits

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

13 Shawls in 2013

In 2012 I successfully knit 12 different shawls.  I was very proud of completing the challenge set before me and I created some goals for 2013.  I wanted to knit 13 shawls in 2013 (even though the Ravelry group has changed to 12 shawls forever) that included some specific smaller goals:
  • 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 may not have been able to complete 13 shawls this year (getting pregnant had a little to do with changing my knitting focus!), but I did reach many of my smaller goals:
  • 1 shawl of my own design - Denise Shawl
  • 1 shawl out of my hand spun yarn - Handspun No Nupp Annis
  • 2 shawls out of my hand dyed yarn - Denise Shawl and a Hitchhiker Shawlette (in progress)
  • 1 crochet shawl - Crochet Lacy Baby Shawl
  • Don't let every shawl be purple - Two shawls are purple, and two others are multicolored with HINTS of purple, but the rest are teal, black, white and blue.  
What are the shawls that I completed this year?
  1. Denise Shawl (my first ever shawl design!)
  2. Mom's Polaris
  3. Magrathea
  4. Febuary Advent Stole
  5. 2013 Mystery KAL Shawl
  6. Handspun No Nupp Annis
  7. Baby Alpaca Shawl/Blanket
  8. Trousseau
  9. Lacy Crochet Baby Shawl (Stay tuned for blog post)
  10. (in progress) Hitchhiker Shawlette
  11. (in progress) Susanna IC Autumn 2013 Mystery KAL
I'm very proud that I got close to my goal.  Many of these shawls are in the upper yardage requirement by the Ravelry group, so I had no difficulty with that requirement of the challenge.  I don't think I will completely 14 or even 12 shawls in 2014, but I do have some patterns and designs that I am excited to get started!