Hi Ellen!
Lo this many a year I have resisted wet blocking. Too much hassle when you can just steam block, right? How can I afford the time to let it dry? Surely it doesn’t make that much difference, does it? Okay, I am so very wrong.
I realized I had no choice but to wet block Marie’s shawl…it had to be done that way. And it wasn’t so terribly traumatic. I also was a little surprised (naively so, I suppose) at how much it stretched out. With this in mind I considered that short entrelac scarf that I finished last week. It needed to be longer. So, it sat on the edge of the bathtub till yesterday just waiting for me to see if the stretch factor only applied to lace, or if it would also work on stockinette — and yesterday, it took a soak and then a stretch. Now it is of completely satisfactory length and I am quite pleased. The entrelac blocks are a bit more diamond-like, but with a nice aesthetic.
When I saw how much the wet blocking did for the length of the scarf, I pulled out the “Sally’s Favorite Sweater” that I knit over the summer that had somehow ended up wider than it was long. (As it was supposed to be a tunic, this was not good.) I broke the side stitching to allow the pieces to stretch and gave it a soak too. Amazing…it is now longer than wide and may possibly be wearable! The sleeves look kind of skinny, but I don’t like wide sleeves, so I think I’m good with them. Once it’s dry, I’ll try it on again and let you know.
I’ve started a new scarf based on the Lily of the Valley stitch pattern. Frankly, it’s kicking my butt a bit. I need to chart the lace pattern as the pattern book I have has it written out and I keep losing my place. Also, I’m using a Donegal yarn that is surprisingly unpleasant to knit. Little give and lots of scratch. I had planned this for the Red Scarf Project in the first place. I won’t miss it when I give it away.
Love, Jan
Jan and Ellen are identical twins who have always had an innate fashion sense. Crafting is an integral part of their lives and they stay stitched together sharing their love of knitting, family and community.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Blocking is pretty amazing; blocking lace is miraculous. The scarf and the sweater look happy for the attention.
I personally dislike the lily of the valley lace stitch. Those bobbles are far too tedious, especially in lace weight. I am, of course, going to have to do 100’s of them for my Forest Path stole I cast on about 3 years ago. That may be one reason for the slow progress.
And definitely chart it. As much as I dislike the lov pattern, I despise written out lace patterns, unless they are extremely simple or intuitive after a couple of rows. You can download knitting symbol fonts and use them in Xcel. Just squish the cells down to about a 2/3 ratio (squares work for lace, but the 2/3 is good for color work). There are some threads on this on Ravelry.
Given that I have about 4″ knit on the sleeves for Kalbi, I think it will end up being my travel project rather than my top for Marie’s wedding. Either that or I could make it a cap sleeve rather than long sleeved sweater. This reinforces my resolution not to take on knitting deadlines this year - already bitten by one.
This was kind of a long comment - I probably should have written a post, but I don’t have time to do that. Commenting doesn’t count against time commitments, right?
February 27th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Thank goodness for blocking — I tell you, the miracle of water + fiber never ceases to amaze me. I hope the sweater does, indeed, turn out to be salvageable. Hearing you guys both talk about this lily of the valley stitch, maybe it’s one to skip? Maybe?…
February 27th, 2008 at 3:08 am
It is the bobbles, Jocelyn…as Ellen said, tedious would be the correct word. Plus, if you lose track of how many times you PSSO’d on the bobble you either gain a stitch or lose a stitch. I’ve now learned to actually pay attention. And I’m also glad I only have only one ball of yarn for this scarf!
February 27th, 2008 at 4:30 am
Jan - if you haven’t checked out Jocelyn’s entry today, you really should. More lovely lace blocking! see it at: http://knittinglinguist.blogspot.com/