Board, Wires & Pins

I finally had time to sit down and start blocking my sweater. I've been waiting for weeks to do this. I'm glad I waited, though. It was so easy with my new blocking board! I set it up on my coffee table and was able to sit on the couch while I spun the board around. So much easier than the back-breaking position I usually took, hunched over towels laid out on our spare bedroom floor. Then I got Jeff to help me move it to an open place on the floor. I loved having the little lines to line things up on -- it was as simple as poking pins at the intersections and counting squares. I think I'm going to like this.

I just hope that I steamed effectively. I used the little attachment for fabrics, holding it just above the knitting and steaming like crazy. It got damp, but not really soaked like I'm used to -- which I suppose is the point. The thing is, I did this just a few hours ago and it's already starting to feel dry. Did I steam it enough? Anyone have experience blocking with a steamer? I've done some with an iron, but it's just not the same. I'm afraid (and probably needlessly so) that I'm going to take the wires out and it's going to spring back to it's original dimensions. I didn't have to stretch it too much in the blocking -- not at all vertically and just about an inch horizontally. It' not exactly correct gauge, but this is as close I could get.

Still haven't gotten around to shopping for buttons for this or the Samantha Dress. At this point, I'll probably have to wait until the weekend.