Five? Yes. Five

So here’s my finished Enzian and I like it so much it’s stayed out on display. It gets moved when I finish another shawl since I’m a real amateur and I’m photographing each one in the same way.

Here’s a bit of detail:

I love the yarn, the design, the beads … and the finished article!

To complete my 12 shawls in 2012, this is a Cassandra by Marie-Adeline Boyer (congratulations to her!). It’s knitted in Baby Alpaca, with a few beads in the points (of course).

It’s a lovely shoulder shawl for cool evenings, and there are many of those this summer.

So, I knitted 20 shawls in 2011 and I’m going to do the same in 2012. Probably more, since no one wants to buy my hand-dyed yarn. Here’s Dazmin, in my deep red kid mohair/silk mix:

The design is Yasmin, by Angelique den Brok. It’s knitted on 3.5mm needles, which I thought would be a bit small. The finished object is fine but I think I prefer this type of yarn on 4.5 or 5mm.

I guess I should knit something more complicated but simplicity of design is very attractive. Next up is my take on Dee O’Keefe’s Ashton Shawlette in a burnt orange/green handpainted 4-ply BFL:

I just like the rosebud pattern.

And finally, there’s Joyce Yu’s Budding Shawlette in (very) bright green. It’s knitted on 4.5mm needles, which I’d usually say were on the large side for 4-ply but with aggressive blocking the “bud” design really stands out.

Are you ready for this?

OK then – here’s My Name is Bud:

Now why wouldn’t anyone want to buy this lovely yarn?

So five more to go (at least) and I’ve got plenty of bright yarn to use. You have been warned.

First shawl of 2012

Having decided that 12 socks and 12 shawls were a bit too much for 2012 I got a move on with my first shawl last weekend. I’m not too strong on common sense this month, that’s for sure.

It’s in Perplex, my hand-dyed 4-ply baby alpaca. I’m a bit strange about this yarn: it’s so gorgeous I can’t part with it. I’ve just dyed another 400g, and I really should put them up for sale, but I don’t think I can.

Here’s my shawl:

It’s Alice by Marie-Adeline Boyer and it has a sister, Cassandra. I have a skein of Perplex in lilac which will won’t get sold and will get knitted up fairly soon, I think.

As for socks, I chose Cookie A’s Monkey for my second of 2012. I can understand why there are over 15,000 Monkey projects on Ravelry – it’s a nice easy design. The first sock is finished:

and I’m turning the heel of the second.

One bright note in the last two dreadful weeks is that my yarns may appear for sale in another shop (the one in the street that’s been voted the best in England).