Cardigan Spa

What do you know? I got motivated!

This afternoon I wove in all the loose ends, which weren't all that many, considering this sweater was knit in the round. Most of them were around the armpits, which allowed me to use the weaving-in process to help with those inevitable small holes that accompany the joining of different directions of knitting. I also tacked the down the collar, a task I'd been dreading. Turns it out it took 10 minutes.

I got out the extra thick beach towel which should really be renamed. It's never been to a beach, much less a swimming pool. It's used mostly to handle sopping up minor floods and blocking knitting. Anyway, it has assumed the usual position on the guest room floor. I've used blocking wires and pins to get this into the shape I want, including stretching the sleeves out a bit. I wish I'd knit them maybe an inch or two longer and I'm hoping blocking will take care of this.

Rather than wet block this as I've done with items in the past, I decided to steam block it, for several reasons:

• I'm lazy
  
• I saw Lily Chin do this on Knitty Gritty this week and it looked easy
  
• I'm lazy
  

So I got out my trusty Black & Decker iron -- which cracks me up. I love that I have a clothes iron which is made by Black & Decker. I just haven't figured out why it's not black. Have I ever seen black irons in stores? We used to have a Black & Decker coffee maker that was black. How can you market steam irons to men unless they're black? I digress...

I'm a little concerned that the steam blocking method isn't going to get through to the back of the sweater. But I'm only a little concerned, since I don't think that this sweater needs all that much blocking. It's basically the size I want (except for the sleeves). Since I'm going to be taking it to a tailor to get a zipper put in, I thought I'd make sure everything was just so.

Now that its pores are open, toxins have been flushed, and the sweater is all relaxed, I just have to wait for it to dry, buy a zipper, and take it to a tailor.

The end is in sight. Freakishly, it's sleeting outside as I type this, quite a rarity for this part of the world in April. Too bad it isn't already done!