First, the numbers. I started 18 projects last year, and finished 15. Darn, I’d hoped to break even – unfortunately that means the WIP count went up, not down.
Of those 15 finished projects, 6 were shawls. I made a half-hearted attempt at 10 shawls in 2010 (which has now morphed into 11 shawls in 2011) – literally, knitting these 5:
I also finished Girasole, which was begun in 2009:
Nothing wrong with any of those – I love both the knitting and the wearing of shawls. But here’s the thing – the remaining 9 finished projects were all small: a cowl, three hats, two pairs of mittens, two neckwarmer-scarves, and this tiny thing, possibly my favorite project of the year:
I didn’t finish a single sweater (thankfully I started only one). There was no colorwork whatsoever. And looking over it all, there wasn’t much challenging knitting in 2010. I was coasting a little. So here are the intentions:
- Finish a sweater or two – or more. These two are 80% done so I really should finish those first. Next on the list (unless something changes) are Shalder, the Lite Lopi Pullover, and Bruegel. None of them would require buying yarn.
- Knit a little for needy strangers – I wrote about that here.
- Knit some colorwork. I’m close to having yarns collected for a stranded colorwork shawl along the lines of Kaffe Fassett’s Persian Poppies or this one by Christel Seyfarth. This sweater is also calling to me, and I have the perfect yarn for it:
Joyce Williams’ Olive Branch sweater, from Armenian Knitting. Were I to knit this, it would be the first one on Ravelry – that’s always kind of fun. On the back is a gnarled olive tree. For a more realistic project – the Caller Herrin’ hat is in my plans. - Knit some more of my handspun. Miralda’s Triangular Shawl and half a scarf were my only handspun projects last year. It’s satisfying to wear handspun handknits, plus you learn so much about your spinning from knitting with it.
- Try some new techniques and a complicated design or two, for a challenge. I want to knit a two-end project, my first pair of gloves with fingers, and my Bohus Blue Shimmer cuffs. I'm knitting my first two-color brioche project (the Geveldak scarf) and it's a lot of fun - I'd like to do more of that. Plus there should be at least one complex lace pattern this year.
Oh my – long list. And I’ve totally ignored the fact that my first grandchild arrives in April, so baby knitting is also on the horizon.
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