New Knits on the Block

I finally dug out the blocking board to block some things. My first two attempts at spinning yarn (now in square form as hot plates for putting under hot pots on the table) and my Lopi Toggle Cardigan are now drying, pinned into the shapes they will stay in forevermore. Actually, I'm probably going to re-block the Lopi Cardigan once it's completely done. The pattern doesn't give any measurements for how big the individual pieces should be, so I'm just kinda guessing. It's all stockinette which made the pieces all roll horrendously when I was thinking of seaming before blocking. That was not going to work, so I decided a quick block was the answer, just to straighten out the edges and allow me to sew it all up. Which is why I may re-block when it's all together, to make it all nice and homogeneous.


Here's all the pieces bathing (and a couple of Baudelaires that I had thought were washer safe, so threw in, and they felted slightly, so now they are hand wash only). See the curling? Yeah, seaming was just not going to work. Mmmmm, I love the smell of wet wool...


And here's the back, on my lovely blocking board. What I was going to do was block the back and the handspun on the front of the board, then block the sleeves and the fronts on the back of the board. Turns out the sleeves are too wide to block side by side, and as I have the open stitches (to make a collar) all on the same cord of my Boye set (I gotta get more cords), rearranging was not so much an option. So, pinned to the floor they are:


My pelts (as Lee calls them) are still drying. We've had amazing weather here this past week, but trust me to block as a storm system comes in, bringing a whole bunch of humidity that is not conducive to fast drying. Oh well, it will be done eventually. This will be my first cardigan that is adult-sized. I also made Knitty's Reid for an adorable little girl, but that was quite different.

Step Next is the seaming and knitting of the collar, then the picking out of the closures. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the toggles; the model cardigan hangs open more than I like with the toggles, so I'm going to have to try it on to see what it wants. I was thinking maybe pewter clasps, but if it sits nicely, toggles it will be. Yay button shopping! I told Lee he has to come with me to help me figure out what closures to get. He rolled his eyes. I don't think he really cares. But don't tell the cardigan that.