ging gang woolly

Can’t remember whether I’ve mentioned it here before, but for the past couple of years I’ve been involved with Girl Guiding. Or rather re-involved – I was a Brownie & a Guide myself, and now its fun to help give girls the chance to take part in the fun experiences & opportunities Guiding can provide.

So far I have failed to get any of our girls interested in learning to knit, although I am hoping to run a spinning session at camp next year (I did have to explain to someone that it’s this kind of spinning not that kind of spinning – I prefer to do my cycling out in the fresh air).  But of coure I take my knitting along to do in rare quiet moments in meetings, and have made some “Guidey knits” this year.

Emergency Poppy

Guides & Scouts go to church parade for Remembrance Sunday.  I know that we had at least two poppies in the house but on the night before church parade I could only find one. Son needed that to pin on his Scout shirt, luckily I managed to find this pattern and crochet one for myself.
ravlery project page

Bear Sock

A cast sock for one of my Guides who broke her leg & so couldn’t come to camp.
raverly project page

TREFOIL ILLUSION SCARF

I love illusion knitting, so this was was a perfect knit for our Unit Leader & my leadership mentor. The pattern was written by a Brownie leader to raise funds for her unit, so do get one if you have Guides to knit for.
ravelry project page

Menten Scarf

I love small shawls worn as scarves, they are perfect for keeping your neck cosy warm. Sometimes they are a bit too triangular for me and I wanted a long, shallow triangle rather than a deep one.  So I knitted this one, and wrote up the pattern. It’s knit lengthways in garter stitch, with a simple lace edge, and will show off a lovely variegated or self-striping yarn. This red one is in 4-ply (sock/fingering weight) yarn but you could knit it any weight from 4-ply to aran (I used Arauacania Ranco Multy shade 337 & 3.25 mm needles).

Menten is available as a free ravelry download (if you’re not on ravelry, click here to get the pdf).  Or, next time you’re in Manchester, you can get a paper copy from Purl City Yarns in return for a donation to the Red Cross Japan Tsunami appeal.

22/07/11 updated pattern published, correcting minor errors in original

About Maud Menten

One of the first women in Canada to qualify as a medical doctor, Maud Leonora Menten (1879 – 1960) is best known for her research into enzyme kinetics.  Together with Leonor Michaelis she developed the Michaelis-Menten equation, a mathematical formula modelling enzyme reaction rates still used by chemists & biochemists.