More Ginkgos

Yarn: Main Color - Dream in Color Baby, color Strange Harvest.  

Contrast Color - Handdyed Alpaca Silk in Grey

Needles: US #5

I finished the last 2 projects of the Ginkgo series.
First the stole. I cast on for this one before I left for the trip to Taiwan, and decided not to bring the half finished project with me for fear of loosing it.
The stole was a super easy knit with knitting on bias. I did have to play a bit to get the leaves to work sideways. The yarn was Dream in Color Baby in color Strange Harvest.  In the cake the color looked meh, but it sure was stunningly gorgeous knitted up in lace, very beautifully contrast with the alpaca/silk fingering weight yarn I dyed using logwood grey.

And the finale:

Yarn: Main Color - Malabrigo Worsted, color Parisian Night

Contrast Color - Handdyed Yarn  using Rabbit Rubberbrush

Needles: US #6

I know in a previous post I said I wasn't going to make a Ginkgo cardigan, obviously I lied.  I made it.
I'd love to make a pattern for it but I'll have to change a few minor things from how I made this one.  I knitted it with I-cord on the right front as I went.  But I'll probably change it to afterthought I-cord for better finish.  I'll also have to rethink a bit about the edge of left front.  It does need snap buttons to keep the front lay nicely,  I guess that's one purpose of buttons. I used total 4 snaps to keep the front closed. I was hoping the yarn would be stiff enough to make the first leaf in main color stay firmer. But Malabrigo softened up quite a bit after blocking even at this tighter gauge.

The sweater was knitted in reverse St st, in one piece with raglan sleeves. The increase along the raglan line was done in yarn over instead of m1. I decided on this for a better look and to lessen up the bulk look of the sweater.

These two, really, should conclude my Ginkgo series.

Taiwan, Part 3 - Food and Night Markets

Food!!!
Nothing compares to food in Taiwan, particularly the street food.  People in Taiwan are obsessed with food.  It's everywhere. And Taiwan is known for its night markets. Every big city has multiple markets, some run daily, some 3 days a week. They usually start at about 5 or 6 pm and run 'till midnight. It used to be street vendors setting up completely illegally, but now they are regulated by the cities. Night markets usually have tons of food with very wide variety and vendors selling clothes, toys, etc.

Every time we saw a long line for a vendor at the night market, we'd immediately get in line. We were never disappointed. People know their food in Taiwan.

This is the infamous "Stinky Tofu"! It's probably the most notorious street food. 

How do you know someone is a native of Taiwan? 

See if the person likes (most likely loves) stinky tofu.  

No foreigner I know can stand it. But those of us grew up with it just LOVE it! 

Paul would try it but he'd never eat more than one.  

He simply does not understand our love for it. 

simple breakfast food - rice milk, eggy scallion pancake, and turnip cake.

the breakfast place we visited regularly in the morning.  There was always a long line of people.

At a night market in Taipei

Vedor Stall

Night Market in Tainan. It was incredibly crowded on a Thursday night.  

This was not even the better known/biggest night market in Tainan.

Vendor at a Day (Produce) Market

Usually I dislike buffets. But Taipei has some really incredible vegetarian buffets.

This was one of the three we visited during our trip.  

It had probably close to 100 selections.  All really yummy, a treat for a vegetarian like myself.

But one thing Taiwan never got it right - Coffee! I  could not find a cup of regular coffee.  We even broke down and went to Starbucks. But the so called "regular" coffee at Starbucks was actually espresso with water. I even tried to order cafe Americana, and it was still just espresso with water. 

Ginkgo

I had finished a sweater and a few cowls before I left for my trip but I was too lazy to take pictures.

I was playing with the idea of using ginkgo leaves as motif for the designs. Originally I thought about designing a scarf for the trip but the swatch gave me some ambition of turning the motif into a sweater. As it turned out, instead of making the leaves from bottom up as in the original swatch, I ended up with making the sweater from top down. I had to re-make another swatch.

yarn - Elann Limited Edition Lana Pura

The sweater was top-down with raglan sleeves. I thought of different sleeve style of puffier sleeves first, but opted for a simpler 3/4 sleeves instead.
And of course while knitting the sweater, other ideas came to mind, namely cowls. And I wanted some fun ones, with leaves dangling.

Simple Version -  Elann Limited Edition Kashair

Texture Version - Naturally Harmony 8 ply, and Hand-dyed  yarn with Rabbit Rubber Brush

The leaves were knitted first, then attached to the cowl when knitting the purl stitch rounds.
After making a simple style with just stockinette stitches, I went on and made another one with textured stitches for a bit more firmness. Then I made different sizes of each version. I think I'm so done with making the cowls.

Textured Version - Stonehedge Fiber Mill, Shepherd's Worsted 

Simpler Version - Aslan Trend Del Cerro

Playing with making the leaves was quite fun, albeit a bit tedious.

I am also in the process of finishing a stole using ginkgo motif.  The leaves are once again knitted differently. The stole also has a modified version of making it into a cowl. I thought I wanted to make a whole collection adding a ginkgo cardigan, but I'm getting rather restless staying with the same theme. The cardigan may have to wait 'till later, 'till I have better idea about the design.

I'd been wearing the cowls around the house today so I figured I might as well take some photos while I was slightly motivated.

Taiwan, Part 2 - Places

And now, places in Taiwan

View from Jiufen, Northern Taiwan

Mining Town Jiufen

 

Taipei Street in Rain

Ximendin - Pedestrian Shopping Area in Taipei

Mudanwan, Southern Taiwan

Walkway to the Beach in Mudanwan

Rocky Beach in Mudanwan/Xuhai

View from hiking trail above Mudanwan

Coral Beach in Kenting, Southern tip of Taiwan

Beach in Kenting

Kenting Park, (the shape actually resembles the shape of Taiwan)

Kenting National Forest

View along the river inTainan, Southern Taiwan

Baije Mountain trail, Right outside of Taipei

Looking down at the temple from trail in Baije Mountain

Taiwan, Part 1 - Architecture

After 3 weeks in Taiwan, we finally made it home.

It was crazy 3 weeks, very exciting and very exhausting.  We were in Taipei, the capitol of Taiwan and where I was born, for a week before we caught the train and headed down south for another week, then returned to Taipei for the 3rd week.

We did tons of eating, and some day hiking.  It rained and rained.
Of course, I took tons of pictures.

Here are some photos of old and new buildings.

Sanxia Old Street

Songsan Tobacco Factory, now converted to exhibition halls, Taipei

Old abandoned office building in Jiufeng, old mining town outside of Taipei

Old House in Tainan

Ruin Wall of Annan Fort in Tainan built by Dutch

Red Theatre in Taipei

Typical street view of Taipei intersections. 

Shopping area in Banqiao Train Station in Taipei