Happy Holidays!!

I'm obviously overdue for an update. My last post was Halloween so it's definitely time for Domo and the pumpkins to exit. But I don't want to talk about Christmas. I'm woefully unprepared for the holiday this year so the less said the better. We're getting some serious snow today in the Philadelphia area and I can't even get my shopping finished. I might be one of those crazy people you see on the news in the mall on Christmas Eve.
So, with 2010 right around the corner I thought I'd take advantage of this snow day at home to say hello and share my knitting plans for the new year. After knitting Fountain Pen, my first lace weight shawl over the summer, I caught the lace bug. Through the fall, I knit several of those smaller shawls like Traveling Woman , Ishbel and 198 Yards of Heaven (all rav links).
I recently finished the Dane Shawl by Jane Tanner, knit in J. Knits Superwash Me Sock yarn. The colorway is called Michigan. I'm very happy with it and my new shawl pin. But please let me know, am I wearing it wrong?? Stick pin up or down? Is there a right way?



So guess what I'll be knitting in the new year? More shawls. Hopefully 10 shawls because I joined the ravelry group 10 Shawls in 2010. The group was started by Pillen, an awesome knitter from Vestfold, Norway. She came up with the idea to challenge yourself to knit 10 shawls over the course of the year. Here's what she wrote on the group home page.

"The minimum requirement of meterage is 250 meter (ca 273 yards) for 8 of these shawls, whereas 2 must use at least 500 meters (ca 546 yards) of yarn.

There are no upper limits to meterage if you want to knit 10 big shawls :) Any shapes will do - and you can even be your own designer!

The plunge starts at January 1st and ends 31st of December 2010. NO WIPS count!
In the very beginning of January 2011, there will be a prize draw (picked at random of course) amongst those who have completed the 10 shawls following the criteria.

There will also be monthly prizes! :) "

Sounded like fun to me!! I already had several shawl patterns in my queue and now that I've joined the group my queue has exploded. I think I’m going to start with Swallowtail, but of course, I reserve the right to change my mind any time between now and midnight January 1st. And I’m sure that over the course of the year a new shawl pattern might catch my eye (ummm... Bitterroot and Citron) but here's my list of potential shawls to knit for the challenge.

Swallowtail
Ishbel
Cedar Leaf Shawlette
Aeolian Shawl
Shetland Triangle Lace Shawl
Mountain Peaks Shawl
Gail (aka Nightsongs)
Percy Shawl
Springtime Bandit
Aestlight
Luna Moth
Heartland Lace Shawl
Centrique
Butterfly Forest Shawl
Saroyan
Laminaria
Agatha
Night Blooms Shawl
La Cumparsita
Go Fly a Kite Shawl
Ethereal Fichu
Echo Flower Shawl
Woodland Shawl
Rueschenstola

So you should see some finished lace shawls on my project page on ravelry and here on the blog in 2010. And if you think you'd like to knit some shawls too, why don't you join us?