Fuzzy Knitting Helpers.

Well, this was supposed to be a general update on my other knitting projects.

But it appears to have been taken over by the cats!

First is my Spring Coat (which with a bit of knitting luck might be finished in time for deep Fall, I'll have to see).  I finished the body to the underarms and started the sleeve.


But this is what happened when I put the body aside and went to find my double-pointed needles for the sleeve. . .

She was quite content about this!

Secondly, I was winding the yarn for the Fall Lake Slippers, and I had the other fuzzy helper decided to 'help' unwind the skein.

She really does like Briggs and Little, it seems!

The sole I'm knitting up is from an older slipper pattern that I already have, and it's done with the yarn held double.  Well, bulky yarn held double on 4.5 mm needles is a pretty tight knit.  I'm glad I'm only working the sole with doubled yarn.

Finally, I won 5 dollars over PayPal from a contest I entered months ago.  I'd always intended to pick up a pattern over Ravelry with it (because there's not much else I would spend 5 dollars online for), and decided on the Fairview Scarf.  I intend to do it in Tanis Fiber Arts Silver Label.  Yes, Silver Label is no longer being distributed, (but you can still order it directly from Tanis Fiber Arts), but last I checked the Purple Purl still had some in stock.

Briggs and Little and Cats!

So, remember that Briggs and Little order I mentioned?

Well, it came today in a big brown bag of yarn.

So I pulled the yarn out to sort it, get photographs for my Ravelry stash, and get it put away.

But first, this happened.

 Kitty number one decided that the brown bag of yarn made a great hidey-hole!

But, that's not all.

Once I had the yarn out, kitty number two went a little nuts. . . apparently she -loves- Briggs and Little!  She didn't do anything other then nuzzle it, so I wasn't too worried.  She had both me and my roommate laughing! 

As you can probably see, she eventually nuzzled all the yarn away from her!

So yeah.  Briggs and Little is apparently definitely kitty-approved.

More yarn!

I just got my second order from Eat.Sleep.Knit.  I ordered 3 more skeins of Lady Godiva, to take advantage of the power boost (you get extra credit for yardage on certain yarns there when you order.)

  

So, this is Lady Godiva in 'Ocean.'

I also got the Welcome Package from Eat.Sleep.Knit.

Inside was a pattern for a mini-sweater (it'll make a good key-chain or Christmas ornament), as well as two mini-skiens.

The first is Malabrigo Arroyo:

and the second is Shibui Knits Linen:

Both are yarns I wouldn't have necessarily gotten on my own.  I do like the malabrigo in particular, but I'm not quite sure what to do with them. I'm suspecting they might end up in the Sock Yarn Blanket I'm working on. (It's not just sock yarn, but the point still stands).

I also won 5 dollars of store credit on their Yarn Lotto!  I'm having really good luck with that!

Only point of annoyance is with Canada Post.  Though the yarn doesn't have duty, thanks to NAFTA, I do have to pay the taxes on it.  That I don't mind.  I don't necessarily like taxes, but I recognize their use and necessity.

Canada post charges a handling fee of 10 dollars, to process about 10 dollars in taxes.   That is not so awesome.  There's no way to not pay this handling fee that's the same cost as the taxes.   That's the part that annoys me.

However, my annoyance didn't last long when I turned to take the box out to the recycling and was faced with this:

Like most cats, my kitty likes boxes.  She's actually gone to sleep in the box at the time of my typing.  I have to eventually disturb her to take the box out, but it can wait for the moment.    I have new yarn to put away first.

Blocking Tutorial -- how to block an acrylic (or partially acrylic) project:

Hello!

So.

I have to block my Test-Knit socks.

And I promised a tutorial on how to block acrylic a few posts ago.

So, here we go.

You'll need four things.

1) Two towels.They should be ones you won't worry about too much if they get a bit of dye bleeding out.  It shouldn't happen, but it can; and the last thing you want is your nice towels with a stain on them.

2) An Iron that has a steam setting.  If you don't have a steam setting, there is a work-around.

3) The object you want to block, in this case, my sock,

4) And water.  I figure that doesn't need a picture. 

Take your object and get it really wet with cold (or at least room-temperature) water.  For this sock, running it under a tap for a few minutes should suffice. 

If it's a bigger project, you might have to immerse it in water. Try not to rustle it around too much, you don't want to accidentally felt any natural fibers, or cause any ends to come out.

Put it on a towel to transfer it to a flat surface.  Here, I've got it outside on our balcony.   Then, cover it with a single layer of the other towel.  (The single layer part's important.)

Now, iron the object with the towel over top of it.  Use the steam setting. 

Be cautious, though.  Since this sock is partially acrylic fibers, we don't want too much heat.  Blocking acrylic is permanent, as you're actually melting the fiber just a bit  (acrylic is basically plastic, after all!).   If you over-block acrylic, you 'kill' it, which takes away all elasticity and gives it quite a bit of drape.  "Killed" acrylic can be useful for some things, but a sock isn't one of them.  And because this is a mixed fiber project, killing the acrylic would be a bad thing, since the wool wouldn't change nearly as much.  I'd have hideous tension problems.   So, block anything with acrylic in small increments.  It's better to do too little and have to do more, then do too much.  You can't undo blocking acrylic, unlike blocking natural fibers.

You want a single layer of towel between the iron and the object.  This allows heat and steam transfer without scorching the acrylic (you'll scorch and melt the acrylic if you put the iron on it directly, this is a no-no!)

If you want to be cautious, you can do a double-layer of towel and take more time. 

If you don't have a steam iron, boil some hot water and keep a small bowl of it nearby.  Pour it onto the towel in small amounts, making sure it soaks through both the towel and the finished object.


Here, we're blocking up near the cuff.  Since again, "killing" acrylic is irreversible, I've pulled the towel down so I can see and don't accidentally "kill" the cuff, because the cuff is acrylic, and the one spot in the sock where I really need the elasticity.

Once you do one side of the object, flip it over (if necessary) and repeat on the other side.

 

And there you go, there's your finished object, all set to wear.  Put it on as soon as you can stand the heat, so it will dry into shape. 

 

Finally, since no project is complete without kitty-assisted blocking (as demonstrated by this Ravelry thread,  and to a lesser extent in this Ravelry thread) I had a fuzzy little helper, who also liked to get in the way!

 Isn't she cute?

So, I hope this helps some people, and proves that acrylic (and mixed-fiber projects) can be blocked.   If you're looking for more information on blocking, there's oodles of info and examples on this Ravelry thread (which is where I got a lot of my information from, too!)