Monday, March 24, 2008

the miracle of blocking

Well, as predicted I did not have even remotely enough yarn for this pattern...

I kinda took a guess at "when" to end all my pattern repeats, and left myself exactly this much for some seaming:

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hmmmm. A full FIFTEEN inches before I was supposed to. I threw caution to the wind and to the yarn gods said "Suck it--blocking will be my new best friend!"

and in the end, she was done:





A very aggressive blocking meant the difference between this,

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and this:



as well as the difference between this,

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and THIS:

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In the end I managed to get probably at least a dozen extra inches out of this School Products "mystery" cashmere. (If memory serves it is 80% cashmere, 20% nylon...). I mean the width is fine, it's the arm/wing span that really needs the length. With my arms outstretched it's still a bit too short for my liking (3/4 sleeves?), but in any kind of normal position it appears to be fine.

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(Does this picture make you yawn?)

"Photo shoots" are just soooooo exhausting.

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I'm thinking I may actually block it once more and just stretch the shit out of it one last time. Or not. It uh, kinda makes my boobs look huge anyway, why did I never think of that?

In other news yours truly has been asked to be a "test knitter" for this beauty:



And I am naturally quite excited about it. (thanks Julia!)....now, what yarn to choose? hmmmm, there may be a Manos stop on my way home tonight. woot woot!

13 comments:

Happily Knit said...

It's gorgeous. I absolutely love it!! Way to go on your blocking adventure, what a difference it does make! Luckily it fits you beautifully and the color is AWESOME.

I can't wait to see Julia's hat knit up, it's so cute!

Julia said...

Quit biting my style, dude! First the red hair...

Seriously though, it's lovely. I wish I would have blocked mine properly!

Anonymous said...

It looks terrific! Blocking gods were really on your side! :)

Virtuous said...

Tee hee @ block thE "S" out of it! Haha!

Great pics!! And it looks good!!

Anonymous said...

I yawned!!!

Reckless Glue said...

hey Julia, I'm gettin' a haircut this week--maybe i'll just bring in a photo of you and say "do this to me" and be done with it.

Sarah said...

Blocking really was your friend - that is a great shrug - beautiful colour

joy said...

great shrug! I wasn't a fan of it in the white - but the color you picked is AMAZING.

blocking scares the crap outta me. i have yet to do a project that requires it. you did a great job though!

:D

Monika said...

Nice photo shoot. The test knit looks awesome, you are so lucky!

Macoco said...

Stop making me yawn! It looks fantastic. Sometimes blocking feels like magic.

Anonymous said...

Really nice shrug! Like the color and the test knit, maahh so smart!

Sarah said...

It's gorgeous!!!! You are one gutsy girl.

And the hat to test knit - so fun!

Lolly said...

Love the shrug! such a brilliant color and pattern. Blocking really does make a big difference ;)

lucky you with that gorgeous hat!