WIP Wednesday April 27, 2022

 Today is my daughter Sarah's birthday. Happy Birthday Sarah! One year closer to 40! Heh heh.

I finished the knitting of Lovelia's body. I wove in all the ends yesterday. It took 3 hours. Whew! Today I blocked it, and I took picks while I was doing it. This is acrylic, so I blocked it with steam, like I explain how to do on my post about blocking acrylic. I just feel a need to do another one.

Here is Lovelia, unblocked. Front

and back.

I have put the blocking wires in. It's so much easier to block with these than just pinning.

I've pinned it to my blocking board, right side down according to the measurements of the schematic in the pattern. At this point, I steamed it gently with my Jiffy Steamer, though a steam iron or a hand held steamer works. I did not steam the ribbing. I don't want to destroy it's elasticity.

Just a word about blocking mats. The one I have is no longer on the market, which is a shame because it's awesome, but there are a lot of mat sets available. I recommend something like this set here:

It's a set of interlocking foam mats which makes it pretty flexible, with t-pins.

Here is the front of Lovelia after removing the wires and pins.

It looks so nice and even, and it's going to be easier to sew on the sleeves and knit on the button bands.

I hear people say they don't block, and don't need too. It's a horrifying thing to hear. No pride in workmanship at all.

Here's a pic of Zoey for you. Just the smallest little lip blep.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Blocking Mittens

I am often asked how I block mittens. Here's a tutorial.

I am blocking a pair of mens mittens. They are made of 100% Acrylic, but I block everything with steam, including wool.

First, I have made myself a little cardboard blocker.I talked sweet hubby into letting me use his hand to create the blocker. I drew around his hand on the cardboard, then cut it out at the dimensions I wanted the mittens to be.

I insert the blocker inside the mitten. Please notice I've bent the thumb where it joins the hand. This is to make it easier to insert in the mitten. When the thumb part is in far enough, I unbend it and push it into the thumb of the mitten.

While doing this, I've warmed up my trusty Jiffy steamer. I then gently steam the mitten on both sides. If you don't have a steamer, a steam iron can be used. Just make sure you DON'T TOUCH THE FABRIC with the iron. Hover above just an inch or two.

Then I remove the blocker and steam again. On these mittens, the thumb is actually slightly more toward the palm, so I go ahead and fold it over and lightly steam it.

Sometimes, despite my best efforts, when I bind off the tips of the mittens, they will have little bumps or dog ears. I use the steamer to flatten them down so the top is nice and round.

I let them dry, which usually only takes a few minutes, and then they're done.

I hope this has been helpful.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Blocking a Knit Hat

Frequently I receive emails from folks asking me how I block hats. Well, here's the answer.

First I put a towel on my ironing board. Then I put the hat over a form and steam the top.

Here's my form-a stainless steel mixing bowl.

Sweet Hubby and I were given a set of these as a wedding gift yea these many moons ago. There are three different sizes. The largest one just happens to have the perfect circumference for blocking adult size hats-22 inches. The medium sized one is great for children and baby hats.

After steaming, the top looks pretty good.

To block the bottom half, I lay it flat and steam it like this. I make sure I don't put creases on the sides, and rotate it around.

I typically push and pat here and there with my fingers to get what I want. In this case, I was working on straightening the Latvian braids and making sure the fairisle section was the same height all the way around. I don't usually steam the ribbing because it will destroy the elasticity, though I will do just about anything to stretch it out so I can get the middle of the hat blocked properly. Usually I put a piece of cardboard the proper width just inside the hat. But in this case I didn't need to do that because the ribbing was wide enough already. I steamed the corrugated ribbing to even it out a bit. It doesn't have the same elasticity that regular ribbing does, so I didn't worry about it.

One other thing I did on this hat is block the tassel. It was pretty kinked.

I laid it out on the towel and carefully steamed it straight. I used a metal tapestry needle to 'comb' it out as I steamed.

That's all there is to it. It's not difficult.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Ruth Blocks Her Blanket

Ruth blocked her blanket on Friday. I took pics.

Remember the Before picture? Looks rather narrow and puckered in places.

The blanket is her own design. She used several colors of  Baby Bee Sweet Delight Baby yarn which is an acrylic/nylon blend. She started by weaving blocking wires in along the edges of the blanket. Then she pinned it out to how she wanted it on a sheet spread on the rug. She used my Jiffy Steamer to lightly steam it.

This is after the blanket was dry and she'd taken the wires and pins out.

Quite a difference. Now it lays flat (no more puckers) and is much wider. She's been wrapping herself up in it ever since. She loves it. I'm glad. I am also just so darn proud of her for finishing this project. It was a big one!

Speaking of big projects, this morning UPS delivered a book I pre-ordered months ago, as soon as I heard it was being reprinted. I am so thrilled to have the new edition of Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt.

It's a big book, over 700 pages. It is the most comprehensive resource book on knitting techniques you will ever find. It was first published in the 1980's. I didn't discover it until after it went out of print. Ms. Hiatt says in the forward that people have been clamoring for a reprint. She decided to redo the whole book, updating and adding new things she'd learned since the first publication. It took 10 years for her to do it. It is AWESOME! Not only does she tell you HOW to do things, but WHY you do them that way and WHEN to use them. There are no patterns in the book. Just lots of knowledge about knitting and how to do it. I am extremely pleased to have it in my library.

I should mention that some time last year I managed to acquire a used copy of the original printing of this book. I love it too. But I have to admit the new one is quite a bit better.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Lobster Goodness

Today I blocked my Lobster Cardigan pieces. As usual, I pinned out the pieces using my blocking wires, and steamed them.

The back and one front piece.

 The other front and the sleeves.

A pile of knitted yarny goodness.

The fabric is so pretty! I am going to love wearing this baby.

Live long and prosper. \\//