Tag Archives: Blocking

Blocking: Synthe Sweater

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Home from travel and my sweater off the needles, my Synthe got a bath and is drying in the 70 degree windy spring weather.

I left my markers in both the body and sleeves, just in case I am not happy with the finished/blocked measurements. There are only two increase rounds in the body as I wanted to maintain a straighter body line versus the called for a-line in the pattern. I also did not weave in the ends, partly for that same reason but also because I finished this in the dark and didn’t want to lose them.

I will let this dry and then try on before I either make final finished or rip back for changes. It did soften with the first wash and hoping that continues as this yarn is quite rustic. Now I just need this to dry faster!

Happy Knitting!!

Sweater Bouillabaisse and Sweater Drying

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I did in fact stay monogamous over the weekend and I managed to finish up the ribbing on my Super Simple Summer Sweater. Although my sweater is definitely more suited to Winter than Summer, lol.

I used some lanolin bar soap in my (clean) kitchen sink for the bath and I set it to dry in front of a roaring fire to dry. I figure why not multitask?

Man, it feels good to be done with this massive project! Happy Knitting!!

Straight To Blocking

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I have poured on the afterburners and have churned out the second sleeve AND the hem on my Catbells Cardigan.

All my ends are woven in and I have dunked this sweater. It is so large that I had to clean out and use my kitchen sink! I did manage to eek out the second sleeve with the original yarn and had more than enough for the hem with the backup yarn I purchased.

Next up I need to knit and block the pocket patches. I should be able to knock out those in an evening if my family cooperates. I am so close to finishing this sweater that I can’t wait!

Happy Knitting!!

Blocking By The Fire

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My Windowpanes cowl just sort of flew off the needles! It probably helps that it is worsted weight yarn and the stitch count decreases as you go.

I still have the live stitches on the needs that will need grafted to the short section on the bottom right. I used my wires to stretch the daylights out of this as I am worried the neck opening will be small.

It’s now drying by the fire, so I am hoping it dries quickly and I can finish this one up! Happy Knitting!!

Blocking Radiate

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It’s blocking time humans! My Radiate is complete except for the binding off of the sleeves. I have blocked this baby in a nice sink bath and I have set it in front of a fan to dry.

I am really pleased with how the yoke blocked out and the sleeves did grow a bit. I am glad I didn’t bind off the sleeves first. The yarn really softened nicely and this is going to be a lovely thin lightweight but warm sweater.

For this to be a FO I need to bind off the sleeves and convince my husband to take some real photos. Fingers crossed I get that done this week!

Happy Knitting!!

Almost A Radiate Sweater

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Knit night zoom knitting did the trick. I have an almost finished Radiate! And don’t worry the sleeves are the same number of rows and do actually match. I made sure to mark my decreases and count my rows to match on the second sleeve.

I have not bound off the sleeves as the body is superwash yarn. I plant to soak and block the sweater to see how much it is inevitably going to grow. That way I can add or subtract sleeve length if needed.

I do need to weave in the ends still. But otherwise I’m SUPER happy to have an almost finished sweater. And it helps that this a ton of yards of yarn out of my stash and clearing my needles for the 2020 Pigskin Party KAL that started 9/25.

Happy Knitting!!

Into The Bath

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My Weekender is 99.9% complete and getting its bath now. I had some false starts and ripping back on the first sleeve to get a fit I liked. But once I had my plan settled I quite literally zoomed through the second sleeve. It was so much easier to just count my rows and know exactly what I was doing next.

Now you might notice I said 99.9% done and keen eyes will see some blue tape and needles in the photo. I finished the knitting of the sleeves but I very purposefully didn’t bind off. This yarn is Malabrigo Rios, which is a superwash yarn. Odds are that this garment is going to GROW depending on how I block it. So to keep my cords and needles nice I used some painters tape to just keep them just above the water line.

After its bath my intent is to pull this sleeves as wide as I can in the upper arms to see if I can buy myself just a teensy bit more ease. But the fabric is going to want to stretch lengthwise regardless. I left the sleeves live just in case I need to rip back and shorten the sleeves if they come out ridiculously long.

I’m hoping that all these precautions will keep my knitting karma in check, the sleeves will turn out fine and I’ll just be able to do the tubular bind off once the sweater is dry. Fingers crossed!!

Happy Knitting!!

Blocking A Rectangle

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Welcome to 2020 everyone! I hope New Years Eve was kind to all. With two kids now the hubby and I don’t exactly burn it down anymore. We usually watch a comedy on Netflix and share a cocktail after the kids go to bed. It suits us and it’s nice. Plus I don’t feel bad the next day!

The kids are still in the throws of ecstasy of their Christmas presents so I got some decent knitting time in this morning while they wrecked the house.The Sherwood Forest Wrap is bound off with only the tiniest amount of yarn left. I think it was less than two yards…

Jellybean assisted with the washing (mostly the wool soap part) while I manned the blocking wires. He wanted it to dry “super fast” so we turned a fan on it to speed up the process.

The shape is a very tall rectangle. I’m not sure if this will make it hard to wear or not. I will have to see how it wraps around me when it is dry. I’m still in love with this piece and it might be the most joyous thing I knit all year!

What was your best 2019 project?

Blocking My Progression

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I not only finished the knitting of the Progression shawl but I also got Jellybean to help me block it over the weekend! This thing turned out massively long. It barely fits on our guest bed. We affectionately call it “the Star Wars” bed after the quilt my mom made for my husband.

The eyelets opened up so nicely that I didn’t even pin it out. It was so massive to begin with that I just kind of pulled and patted it into shape. I am going to have to get a real tape measure to measure this object because none of my knitting tape measures a not long enough!!

If the kids let me I’m going to try to get FO pictures this week…fingers crossed.

 

Blocking MOA

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My MOA shawl is finished and drying nicely on my alphabet blocking mats. Note: These were a good idea pre-kids. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep their mitts off of the pieces when they are holding knitwear. But I digress!

As predicted I ended up playing yarn chicken and had to drastically alter the bind off section. I need to move my notes from the paper in my project bag and get them up on Ravelry. Theoretically it could help someone else…and make it less likely I will remember months or years down the road. And when I blocked it I used my blocking wires and really stretched this as much as possible to make the shawl as big as possible. I’m finding that one skein shawlettes, while beautiful, are just too small to style and keep on during the day.

I did find a SINGLE dropped stitch in my work AGAIN. That happened on my Kindness KAL 2019 shawl, grr. But I laddered it back to a good place and then use some waste yarn to secure it in place. It’s somewhere in the photo above but even I can’t see it anymore when I look at the right side of the work. I can’t wait for this to be dry and get some FO photos!

Happy Knitting!!