Wednesday, September 21, 2011

WIP Wednesday: 11 Shawls 2011

I’ve been rather absent on the blog as of late- to be honest, I keep composing posts, and then something goes wrong!  I forget to post them, or I can’t find my camera, or something.  I’m going to try to be a little bit better about this in the future.

For today’s Work In Progress Wednesday, rather than show you pictures of my current WIPs (has anyone seen my camera cord, by the way?), I’d like to talk about my year-long Work In Progress, 11 Shawls 2011.
I joined the 11 Shawls 2011 group in January with the goal of, you guessed it, knitting 11 shawls this year.  So far, I have completely finished six:

I have three shawls in progress:
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  • Truly Tasha’s Shawl: I have been working on this one since January.  It’s kind of boring, because the main part is all garter stitch. Additionally, knitting bulky-weight yarn on size 5 needles requires me to push the needles through a lot more, and I was wearing a hole in my finger.  By the time I found a leather thimble to combat this problem, it was so hot I didn’t want a big wool/alpaca project in my lap.  Now that it’s getting cooler, however, I think I might be able to make more progress.  
  • Summer Flies Shawlette: I’m finished knitting this; all I need to do is weave in the ends and block it.  I’ve been putting off doing this because I started doing Pilates, and the area on the floor where I would block it is also the same area that I need for my exercises.  I may just have to skip the Pilates for a few days or try to find somewhere else to block it.  
  • Seascape Stole:  I’m about half-way through this pattern.  I really enjoy working on it, but it requires a lot of attention and is not something I can work on while distracted, so I’m limited in the times that I can work on it.

    This brings us to a total of 9, leaving 2 more shawls that I need to knit.  For the last two, I think I will make:
    • Hawthorne: I bought the yarn for this at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, and have been meaning to make it for awhile.  I love Susanna I.C.’s designs- crescents are  such a flattering and versatile shape!  I’m going to knit this in Miss Babs Wowza in a gorgeous deep red color.   
    • Kudzu Shawlette: During the last Dizzy Sheep Spin-Off, I purchased 2 Bags of Knit.  These are $10 paper bags filled with mystery yarn.  One of the bags had three skeins of Classic Elite Firefly in a gorgeous light burnt-orange color.  I had never seen this yarn in person before, but I love the sheen it has to it.  I probably would not have ordered this color for myself (I’m not normally an orange person), but it is beautiful, and I’m glad they sent this one to me!  I think it wants to be a flaming Kudzu Shawlette.
      I think I’d probably be further along towards my goal of 11 shawls had I not rediscovered my love of knitting socks- I think I’m going to aim for 12 socks in 2012!  Is anyone else working on the 11 Shawls 2011 challenge?  How are you doing with it?
      Head on over to Tami’s Amis’s Work in Progress Wednesday to see what everyone else is working on!