Before and After Complete

As you may remember I received a special yarn for Xmas from Yarnia and decided to make myself a scarf. Click here for more detail about the type of yarn and the pattern, if you like. (You have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to get to this gift.)

This scarf is knit using a stockinette stitch which means it will not hold its shape without some severe blocking. The pattern explains one should use blocking wires and a blocking mat in order to accomplish this successfully. Problem is I don't own either, and the scarf is really impossible to wear until it is properly blocked.

My blocking solution

If the truth be told, the scarf has been finished for a few weeks as I have contemplated whether to spend the type of money necessary to buy wires and a mat. I even purchased some coated fine grade electrical wire from the local hardware store thinking it might work. But I didn't make an effort to come up with a solution to the blocking mat. After much stewing (more so than really necessary) it came to me. I own a yoga mat that is a bit too thin to use on uncarpeted floors in the winter, even here in Vancouver. After using it for several years I treated myself to a thicker one and semi-retired the thinner purple mat.

However, this mat was just perfect for my scarf. When it is placed on a futon, the stainless steel stick pins I bought years ago when I actually sewed, can be pushed through the mat into the futon to secure my scarf. And the added benefit of this particular yoga mat is it has a very nice grid on it.

See all the perfectly straight horizontal and vertical lines

This grid makes keeping the lines straight very easy without having to use a ruler. So this morning I wet/washed my scarf, rolled it to a damp dry in a very large towel. Then with just a bit of stretching, pinning and tugging, I have it just the way I want it. All that's needed now is a couple of days to completely dry and my new scarf will hold its beautiful shape. So my Before and After scarf is absolutely finished. Good thing too because it didn't make the WIPs list.

Comments

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms...

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned ou...

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or h...

Flagel Knitting Files

Search This Blog