2011 - Knitted Projects completed

Every year I plan to put this sort of post onto the blog, and every year, I fail to gather together the requisite information, or forget about doing the post until its too late.

First up, the knitting. Eleven socks in 2011, shown in the composite photo above. Not the most artistically arranged composite it has to be said, but I find the drawing programme on my current programme exceptionally difficult to use.

In addition to the socks, this year I have completed the following knitted projects.

Black cashmere cardigan

Purple and black long cardigan

Navy and burgundy long cardigan

Aran Cardigan in natural cream colour

Purple Elphaba Sweater

Baby blanket

Preemie baby clothes (two hats, one pair of socks, one pair of mittens)

Mystery shawl knitalong

Dark Forest Shawl

Wings of a Starling shawl

Fruits of the Sea Shawl

Natural Aran headband

I hadn't realised until I came to list them all, just how much knitting I've done this year. New knitting related skills learned in 2011:

• holding two yarns together to knit without getting into a tangled mess.


• Adjusting a pattern for different gauge.


• Contiguous method knitting. My new absolute favourite method.


• Toe up socks.


• Placing beads into knitting using the dental floss method


• Spit Splicing.

In 2012 I want to learn how to do colourwork knitting and plan to make an aran cardigan with a two colour yoke to start with. This project will also allow me to try Steeking for the first time. Steeking, for those that don't know, involves cutting up the knitting you have just spent weeks working on. I also want to perfect my short row techniques, and challenge myself to make at least six shawlettes over the year. Finally, I want to learn to make two socks at once using a long circular. RuthieK got me a fabulous book that tells me how to do this. Thanks Ruthie. I am looking forward to trying this technique.

Plans for 2012 knitted items include:

• colourblocked and striped sweaters. Self designed and probably contiguous.


• Shawlettes/neckerchief size shawls. These are rapidly becoming my "go to" accessory for adding a pop of colour to my outfits and I have a long list of patterns to try, several yarns in stash, and more yarns coming my way, as part of the Posh Yarn Club membership which I was bought for Christmas.


• Socks. Various patterns.


• Cashmere sweater - Contiguous and self designed


• Aran Cardigan - Zephyr by Tori Gurbisz


• Aran Sweater - By George by Julia Duren

With the exception of the last two items, I have the yarn in stash. I will almost certainly get yarn for "Zephyr" and "By George" but apart from those two exceptions, have made a resolution to try very hard not to buy any more yarn this year. However, this resolution was sorely tried today. I took mum to Baa Ram Ewe in Leeds to spend her gift voucher and almost came home with a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn for myself. But I was good, and I didn't.