25 October 2006

Kimono Sweater, Blocking

That's right. The Kimono Sweater is finished. A real live FO.

The knitting and seaming were finished last night around 11:30. With the neckband, I was seaming as I went along, so there wasn't much finishing to do. I wove in all my loose ends before leaving for work this morning. See me model the sweater:

I have no head!!

It's a bit tight, as you can tell. But from there, it's off to the blocking part, which should improve the smallness issue. This is the first time I've ever blocked anything (a lot of firsts on this project), so hopefully I did everything properly. First, the shampoo-ey soak in lukewarm water:

Mmm, sudsy.

It was really quite surprising how much dye bled out in the water. Should I be worried about this? It doesn't look any worse for the wear afterward... Anyway, then the tub was drained and the sweater was rinsed:

A lot less bleeding here, but still some. I ran the whole thing under the faucet for a while until there wan't a whole lot of purple pouring out any more. Then a quick wringing out, followed by the towel squeeze. I was happy to have some bright purple towels so that additional bleeding wouldn't ruin anything.

Check out the wet spot on my knee.

Finally I laid it out, where I stretched it and shaped it until, well, actually it still looks about the same. Maybe a little bigger. I am working on convincing myself that it looks bigger. It's hard to tell. I should have measured. Damn me.

I'm not sure how long it'll be until it's dry. I don't think it's unreasonable to still expect to wear it Friday night for the opening reception. Right??

...Does it smell like wet llama in here to anybody else?

1 comment:

Bethany said...

Your sweater looks beautiful! Can we see a picture that includes your head? Also, are you planning a trip to Greensboro any time soon? I need help with Evan's sweater. I can't figure out how to shape the neckline. Maybe you could call me? Puh-lease?