Blocking ideas?

Wooly peg it out on a clean sheet on your lawn. With the hot weather that should work. Cover it with another sheet so no birds can build nests in it, or cats can roll around on it Use double pointed knitting needles to peg it down with

Els

If you have a spare bedroom with wall to wall carpet pin it out on the floor. If not, find a cheap source for carpet padding, tape it to a wall and block on it. DA

An old fashioned quilting rack? Frances

An old fashioned quilting rack? Frances

I read somewhere that Knitting Fairies never have to block the finished items. But being a mere mortal knitter, the three options that I would consider are:

1. I might build a frame from 1/2" PVC pipe. The 10' sticks are about each and the elbows are about 1. I might build a frame from 1/2" PVC pipe. The 10' sticks are about $2 each and the elbows are about $0.50 each. You would need a X in the center to brace it so it would be $12 for pipe and $4.50 for fittings. I also use that stuff for my irrigation system, so I would call it a "garden cost" instead of a "knitting cost" to get it past my wife..50 each. You would need a X in the center to brace it so it would be for pipe and .50 for fittings. I also use that stuff for my irrigation system, so I would call it a "garden cost" instead of a "knitting cost" to get it past my wife.

1. There is a big grove of bamboo along one of the trails that I go running on. I might cut a few stalks of bamboo and lash-up a frame with a bit of wire. I like that grove, half the garden is staked up with that bamboo.

2. I remember an account of women laying an old sail on the ground in the sun, pounding stakes in around the perimeter, running a cord tightly between the stakes, and then blocking a shawl by running yarns out to the cord around the perimeter. The had a second sail that they laid over the shawl when rain squalls blew up. There was a picture, and it looked like a nice piece of lace. They seemed to know what they were doing.

If I had a piece of wet lace sitting in front of me and I wanted to get it out in sun so it would be dry by the time my wife gets home, I would go with # 2.

Aaron

I realize this is heresy, but could you fold it in half and block it as a double layer? The middle might be a little funky but since the whole thing is supposed to be stretched out, it might work.

Or only dampen and block half of it at a time? Same thing with the middle but you only have one layer to get dry.

=Tamar

On Thu, 06 Jul 2006 19:21:42 GMT, Wooly spewed forth :

Yesterday a friend came over and helped me block. We ran a string through the top edge of the shawl and lashed it to a piece of PVC hung on brackets between two porch posts.

Then we started pulling out the points, which we lashed to more PVC. The PVC for the lower edges had to be kludged into the correct angles, then tied to the porch posts, then we had to go back and adjust the points.

When the shawl was tied out I sprayed it wiith the hose (horror of horrors, but I scoured it and boiled the heck out of it to set the dye on Thursday when I thought I could block it out myself).

It's still humid as hell but hopefully the shawl will be dry today. Or tomorrow. Or maybe Monday...

Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET. This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%. Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...

Well done, and very creatively at that. I hope to see pictures of the blocking as, describe above, as well as when you are modeling it.

Els