Monday, March 8, 2010

The Sweater Vest

There has been a sweater vest on my needles for a long time.  It was a simple and straightforward pattern (found here) but still stretched my budding knitting skills and just plain stumped me a few times.  It has finally made it’s way off the needles and is very happy onto a very happy boy. 

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I have a bit of trouble with my edges rolling up on stockinette stitch sections of knitting, so I finally learned how to block a piece.

 February 047I don’t have a steamer…or those amazing foam pieces….so I used a spritz bottle and a towel. 

How to Block a Sweater:

1. Fold a towel (or layer a few towels) so you have several layers of thickness.  (I had four layers).

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2. Gather your knitting pieces, a spritz bottle with warm water, and long straight pins.

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3.  With right sides facing up spritz the pieces lightly (to dampen…not to soak!)

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4.  Carefully pin the knitted piece flat sticking the pins straight into the towel layers.  Do not overly stretch the fabric. 

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*You’re done with the spritzer now so hand it over to the little for a bit of squirting fun!  Oh the silly fun that was had! 

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5.  Let it sit!  When the piece is completely dry unpin and finish it up!  ‘

*I’ve heard of a trick to avoid the rolling up…but haven’t tried it.  The trick is to purl the first stitch every row…whether it’s a knit or purl row.  Have you tried this?  How did it work? 

At any rate it fits perfectly and looks adorable…and we all love it.  It did, unfortunately, sit on the needle so long that it will only fit him for a bit.  Ah well…we’ll enjoy it while it lasts! 

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