eleven in '11, 52 in 52 and goal setting in 2012

2011 has been a year of knitalongs for me.  I knit a really big, warm, wooly blanket as part of a charity knitalong, a cardigan in fingering weight yarn as part of a particular dyer's group knitalong, and enough shawls to keep my shoulders warm for a century as part of the Ravelry group 11 Shawls in 2011 knitalong.

I had been part of a 52 projects in 52 weeks group on Ravelry, but since almost all of my projects over the past year have been relatively large ones, I was never going to complete 52 projects by New Year's Eve unless I dropped the cardigan and all those shawls and started knitting lots of dishcloths and wrist warmers.

As the year draws to a close, I now have a modest four projects on needles.  For the past couple of years I've made 'old year's resolutions' instead of New Year's resolutions and have committed to finishing all works in progress by the stroke of midnight New Year's Eve.  Well, there's no way even if I go without sleep for the next couple of days that I'm going to finish the blanket for my son, the Topiary wrap, the Wispy cardi and the Beekeeper's Quilt before the end of the year.

So this year I am making a New Year's resolution.  2012 will be the year of no 'alongs' for me.  No knitalongs, no readalongs, no spinalongs, no weavealongs.  I'm not joining any fiber or yarn clubs, any Ravelry groups that commit to finishing X number of projects in a set time, or any reading groups.

I now have as many shawls as I could possibly need and plenty of socks and sweaters.  I already have enough deadlines in my life to make me crazed at times and know that I need to leave a few havens that are completely within my control to manage and keep calm, namely my fiber work and my personal reading. My home life isn't always within my control to tame, what with four adults, two cats and a dog all sharing living space and merging schedules, but I'll focus on what I can determine.

After a year of knitting lots of big projects, I'm being drawn more by small things like mittens, cowls, tams and such.  I'm not making any commitments or setting any goals beyond saying that I will be trying to choose projects that I can knit and spin and weave with fiber I already own, since the one goal I will say I'm setting for myself is to pay off all college loan debt in 2012.   With both children graduated and no more funds going out in that direction, it's a goal that will actually lessen stress, not create more.

So to close the year I give you the stack of eleven shawls completed in 2011 and wish you a very happy and healthy New Year full of all the things that give you peace and joy.

Oh, and here's a closer look at the very last of those 11 shawls - a simple shawl I worked out over the holidays as I settled into a more relaxed state of mind.  I give you my 'very simple christmas shawl' with details on my Ravelry projects page. :)