05.03.08
Knitting Update
This morning I met with my knit group, then afterwards headed over to visit one of my uncles for his 73rd birthday. Now that I’m back, I’ve got some time to organize around here. Brian and I are planning to take a trip to the UK on the 13th of May, and it’s starting to sink in how close that is, yikes! And I still haven’t finished my travelogue of the Philippines, oye. . . Anyway, before I do that, I wanted to update my knitting stuffs. Aside from reading (last week I finished another book called Death March, the Survivors of Bataan by Donald Knox), I have also been busy knitting away. So to catch up, I’m gonna post some of the stuff that I’ve completed so far. 
Here’s a pic of the second gansey I was making for Matthew. It’s still in progress here. The first one I made for him was brown. This one is gray. I think I’m gonna have to learn how to take better pictures so that the stitching work shows better. Hmm. Well, my camera is on the blink anyway, so I might just go out and get another camera. Anyway, the yarn I used is the same as from the first gansey I made for him. I used three hanks of Cascade’s Ecological Highland Peruvian wool. Matty liked it so well that he asked for another one. How about that? Now that this one is done, he’s got a list of other things he wants me to knit up for him. Brian is starting to get one the bandwagon, too. Come to think of it, I knitted up a cowl for him recently per his request. Forgot to take a pic of that one, maybe next time. Okay, so here’s the completed gansey.
Here’s me with a few more things that I’ve recently knitted up–a skinny scarf using the weave stitch and 100% alpaca wool that my friend Helen gave to me from her home in Australia. Thanks, “again,” Helen! It’s such a beautiful green. I added the brown which is 100% wool from Suss’s Yarn’s. I actually got the idea for the skinny scarf from the Knitty Gritty, but modified it to my own liking and with what yarns I had on hand. Also pictured is the result of my first attempt at fingerless gloves (I used the basic pattern from Marnie MacLean’s Hooray for me Gloves), and another pair of socks from some hand dyed yarn I picked up at Unwind in Burbank.
The socks are just a basic 2×2 rib socks that is knit using 100% Peruvian wool, sock weight. Since the gloves look a bit on the military side to me, I decided to make another pair with more girlie colors to give it more of a handmade, personal look. This is where I am so far with my second pair of fingerless gloves. I’ll have to take an updated picture of these when they’re done.
This is actually the left over yarn that I used to make one of my sister’s Christmas socks. I had just enough left to make a pair of fingerless gloves. This is also 100% wool, hand dyed yarn from Hissy Knits. Both fingerless gloves are made with sock yarn or fingering weight yarn. The first pair I made in the brown color above is Trekking yarn. I love that stuff, actually, and have another skein with another colorway that I’ve got lined up to make another pair of socks with soon. I’m hoping to get that done before we take our trip because by checking the weather reports for Isle of Man, I see they are pretty steadily in the 50 degrees there, yikes! Burrrr.
There are so many cute things to knit up, so I just keep knitting up things one right after another. Here’s my version of a pidge scarf. I used a type of weave stitch for this one (apparently there are quite a few variations of weave stitches. I got this stitch from the Vogue Stitchionary) and instead of adding buttons, I just fasten it with a clip that I already had. The yarn is a red worsted weight yarn with flecks of blue and yellow by Galloway Yarns. I “think” this is 95% wool. I’m too lazy to hunt for the label at the moment, so that’ll have to suffice for now.
And finally, below is with me and another scarf that I knit using a pattern from a book called Knitting New Scarves: 27 Distinctly Modern Designs by Lynne Barr. Personally, I like the front of the scarf, but I don’t like the back because the back looks like a back. That is one reason why one of the things on my list of “things to learn” is double sided knitting.
Well, that’s about all for now. I do have a sleeveless top in the works using ultra silk by Berrocco. Will post that once I’m done with it. But for now. . . dinner time! Woo hoo!
Marlakins 
