Saturday 18 July 2009

Rainbow Blanket: Update

I've emailed the designer for her feedback, but having checked other people's comments from their projects, it seems that following the original pattern results in a rectangle.
Hurrah - I'm not going mad after all! I'm off to block it.

4 comments:

Louise said...

Hi there! Love that blanket, I'm off to find the pattern on Ravelry straight away! Talking about blocking, can you please tell me an easy way to do it (see my last blog entry!!)? Thanks, Louise x

Rowan said...

Hi Louise,

I've just found your blog and love it. Your scarf is so beautiful and delicate.

Regarding blocking, I am far from an expert so read this at your peril!:

Basically, the idea of blocking is to stretch a piece of material so that when it gets washed/worn/stretched in future etc. it won't stretch any more than how far you have shaped it. I tend to plunge items (clothes, blankets, hats are all the same) into luke warm water (not cold, and not hot which could both damage certain yarns), leave them 15 minutes (apparently this is about the length of time cotton takes to fully absorb water), rinse, not worrying too much about wringing things out, then gently stretch out and pin onto a towel on the floor. This will kill your knees and neck, especially when using about 200 pins on the blanket I just did! It should then dry naturally in the air and you can just unpin it. Your dog sounds great! It might not need blocking as it probably doesn't have to be an exact size.

I haven't been knitting all that long myself.

Looking forward to seeing your blanket one day!

Take care,
Rowan

Louise said...

Thanks for you advice, I'm going to give it a go tomorrow night - wish me luck! Glad you've enjoyed my blog so far! :-)
Thinking of doing the blanket as my next project, but instead of doing it with all the colours of the rainbow, I might try it out with more earthy colours - that's another trip to the yarn shop for me!!!
I don't work near Hammersmith, I'm closer to Tottenham Court Road, and it's not on my way home either, but if I've got some time one Tuesday evening I might come and see you for a bit! I'm actually trying to organise a knitting evening group where I live but I haven't had much success so far...

Rowan said...

I love your idea for earth-tones. There's loads of possibilities for variations.