Yarning Along...

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 ...with Ginny.

Coming in a little late here, but better late then ever, eh?

Before I get to my book and current project, I want to share with you my last project because I finished it and then blocked it. This was a major deal -- not the finishing, but the blocking. I confess I have never blocked before. When I finished this scarf, however, I knew that it was just not right and desperately needed to be blocked. I looked it up online (What did we do without the internet? I guess we asked our girlfriends.) and I was very pleased to find out how easy it is. I think wool especially needs to be blocked. I think the scarf turned out beautiful, if I do say so myself. I know that my 18-year-old niece Rachel will not appreciate the painstaking care I took to make sure every stitch was just so, but that's o.k. -- I know.

I apologize that the light in my house was so dull. It rained all day yesterday and then today it snowed, so we haven't really had adequate light for a couple days. I turned on an overhead light to take this picture, but still, it's poor.

 

Hopefully you can see, in the second picture, the color of the yarn. I bought two skeins and because it's hand dyed, they are different. Manos recommends that you alternate rows, using each skein throughout, but it was a challenge for me to knit this scarf, without dealing with two skeins. I'm fine with the color difference. I think it's kind of neat that you can see the difference and, hence, the fact that they are unique (the yarn is Manos Silk Blend in Woodland). The first pic is the down vest for which I picked the yarn. Rachel is going to school to learn photojournalism and I think every photojournalist needs a down vest. Rachel is a hot pink kinda girl. She is also the kinda girl that will appreciate that the yarn is made by a rural artisan in Uruguay. This particular yarn was dyed by a woman named Lielian, as she signed the card that came with it. Cool, huh?

By the way, the pattern is here (Easy Drop Stitch Scarf under Free Patterns in the sidebar).

My newest project is another scarf that I am making for my son's girlfriend. It is a k1p1 pattern even though you can only see the knits. The k1p1 keeps it from curling, however, and makes it feel nice and thick. I am going to make up my own stripe, alternating with black, and making it more black than green in the center. The yarn is from Knit Picks -- it's Gloss DK in peapod and black.

My book is True Devotion to Mary. I really haven't been reading anything else, and I make my consecration next week on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, so I'll be finishing it up this week.


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