I Really Shouldn't Say Such Things
It turns out that that title for my last blog post was a rather ominous one. I spent the two days after writing that post at home, battling a rather strange illness. Thankfully, it passed fairly quickly, but every time I look at that last post, I want to go and find a piece of wood to knock on.
Anyway, back to relative health and to more creative things, I finished my baby blanket, and I'm finally fairly happy with it. The stitches aren't perfect, but then, who's perfect? When I took it off the needles, I was a little worried because it looked a little too much on the long-and-skinny side rather than the nice rectangular shape that I wanted it to be. Darn it.
I looked longingly at the next project I wanted to start. I looked back at the blanket. Meh, the baby won't know, I said. But the parents will know, I said. And they are people I work with. You can't make crappy things for people you work with.
I contemplated picking out the bound-off stitches, but then figured, you know what? I'm gonna bite the bullet and block this thing into shape. It's a cotton blanket, and therefore my fear of blocking is dramatically lessened by this fact, since I knew it wasn't going to felt.
I started off by taking a piece of homemade prairie sage soap that I got at a local shop, and shaved a few flakes into some tepid water. I stirred it around to dissolve the flakes, and then I placed the blanket in. Wash, wash, wash, rinse, rinse, rinse, squeeze... and then, I put it into the dryer. Goodness, I love cotton.
When the blanket was almost dry, I took it out, gave it a few shakes, got out another blanket, moved the coffee table, and pinned my blanket into shape. Doggie was intrigued, but a look from me sent him away. (I did find him there the next morning with one paw on the edge, but he hastily retreated when I entered.)
And there you have it. My Baby Blanket for Two Palaeontologists.
Anyway, back to relative health and to more creative things, I finished my baby blanket, and I'm finally fairly happy with it. The stitches aren't perfect, but then, who's perfect? When I took it off the needles, I was a little worried because it looked a little too much on the long-and-skinny side rather than the nice rectangular shape that I wanted it to be. Darn it.
I looked longingly at the next project I wanted to start. I looked back at the blanket. Meh, the baby won't know, I said. But the parents will know, I said. And they are people I work with. You can't make crappy things for people you work with.
I contemplated picking out the bound-off stitches, but then figured, you know what? I'm gonna bite the bullet and block this thing into shape. It's a cotton blanket, and therefore my fear of blocking is dramatically lessened by this fact, since I knew it wasn't going to felt.
I started off by taking a piece of homemade prairie sage soap that I got at a local shop, and shaved a few flakes into some tepid water. I stirred it around to dissolve the flakes, and then I placed the blanket in. Wash, wash, wash, rinse, rinse, rinse, squeeze... and then, I put it into the dryer. Goodness, I love cotton.
When the blanket was almost dry, I took it out, gave it a few shakes, got out another blanket, moved the coffee table, and pinned my blanket into shape. Doggie was intrigued, but a look from me sent him away. (I did find him there the next morning with one paw on the edge, but he hastily retreated when I entered.)
And there you have it. My Baby Blanket for Two Palaeontologists.
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