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Less Predictable Results
Jan. 14th, 2008 08:13 pmI did, in fact, finish my knitting projects in time to turn it in today. I found a yarn needle, which has a huge eye and a dull point and makes it easy to weave in the yarn ends.
I had decided to try blocking these after having found this lovely tutorial. After re-reading the tutorial, I saw a possible problem: "Blocking almost always works magic on natural fibers and blends. Results are less predictable with synthetics." Our project is being made with Wool-Ease made of 20% wool and 80% acrylic.
Oh well, still worth a try.
We have a bedspread with an actual grid design on it which I decided would be perfect. It wasn't as perfect as I hoped since the quilting skewed the gridlines a bit and since the gridlines were not spaced in whole inches.
Then I noticed a second possible problem: "You can slightly adjust the finished size of your fabric by blocking it. (You can block it to be bigger, but not to be smaller.)" Oops, part of one needed to be smaller.
Oh well, still worth a try.
So, I used the edges of the cardboard to locate the pins, and it's not perfect, but it's better, so that's all good. Definitely approaching rectangle shapes.
So then I went looking for a squirt bottle, to mist water over this. Couldn't find one. That sounds bad for someone who likes to play "Murder in the Dark," which involves covering windows with aluminum foil, which sticks to the windows better if you mist the windows with some water first.
But I think we broke the last bottle when we were applying darkening film to our windows.
But then Robin had a squirt bottle he uses for ironing. Which we then broke.
After a certain person washed his hands and patted my butt without drying them, leaving a damp spot on my pants, I came up with plan B. I filled a bowl with water, dipped my hand in it, and patted my hand on the knitting.
Then I turned the ceiling fan on high and let nature run its course. Here's the "after" shot:
I think it looks exactly the same! They're still just fine, though. And I got them into work by the deadline, and now I don't have to worry about them anymore. Woo hoo!
I had decided to try blocking these after having found this lovely tutorial. After re-reading the tutorial, I saw a possible problem: "Blocking almost always works magic on natural fibers and blends. Results are less predictable with synthetics." Our project is being made with Wool-Ease made of 20% wool and 80% acrylic.
Oh well, still worth a try.
We have a bedspread with an actual grid design on it which I decided would be perfect. It wasn't as perfect as I hoped since the quilting skewed the gridlines a bit and since the gridlines were not spaced in whole inches.
Then I noticed a second possible problem: "You can slightly adjust the finished size of your fabric by blocking it. (You can block it to be bigger, but not to be smaller.)" Oops, part of one needed to be smaller.
Oh well, still worth a try.
So, I used the edges of the cardboard to locate the pins, and it's not perfect, but it's better, so that's all good. Definitely approaching rectangle shapes.
So then I went looking for a squirt bottle, to mist water over this. Couldn't find one. That sounds bad for someone who likes to play "Murder in the Dark," which involves covering windows with aluminum foil, which sticks to the windows better if you mist the windows with some water first.
But I think we broke the last bottle when we were applying darkening film to our windows.
But then Robin had a squirt bottle he uses for ironing. Which we then broke.
After a certain person washed his hands and patted my butt without drying them, leaving a damp spot on my pants, I came up with plan B. I filled a bowl with water, dipped my hand in it, and patted my hand on the knitting.
Then I turned the ceiling fan on high and let nature run its course. Here's the "after" shot:
I think it looks exactly the same! They're still just fine, though. And I got them into work by the deadline, and now I don't have to worry about them anymore. Woo hoo!