It’s blocking!

I dont think I’ve ever blocked anything, but this evening I cast off the shrug at last, sewed in the ends where I’d joined in new balls, and dunked the shrug in a sinkfull of cold water. No idea if thats the right way to do it, but that’s what I did.

I pushed it gently under the water to make sure it was fully wet, then drained the sink and gently squeezed out as much water as i could. I rolled it up in a towel, then stretched it out on a dry towel on the sofa and pinned it in place.

Hopefully it will be dry by morning and then all I’ve got to do is sew up each sleeve seam and its done! Amongst all the many other things I have to do tomorrow… *fingers in ears lalala* it’ll be fine! I’m so excited!

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Tall cake

Today I am baking. Tins have been hired, boards, drum and dowels have been purchased, the fridge and worktop have disappeared under a mountain of bags of flour and sugar, blocks of butter and I think I bought around 30 eggs.

Today I am baking (part of) my sister’s wedding cake. What an honour!

It’s going to be four tiers, each a different flavour, and each made up of three layers of cake. Something like this one that I found on Pinterest…

 

I am baking the most mahoosive chocolate mud cake for the bottom tier, and a coffee sponge for the third tier. Someone else is providing a Victoria sponge for the second tier and another friend is doing the lemon cake for the top. My brother commented that it’s going to be a very big cake. I think he’s right!

 

In other tall news, I am onto the second sleeve of my shrug. I should have a couple hours knitting time once the kids are in bed in our rented apartment this evening, which will hopefully be just enough time to get it finished. I’d like to block it before sewing up the sleeves, but we’ll see how things go.

Tall tales

Progress has been slow. I’ve just worked almost 80 hours in the last seven days, with a get-in for a show, lighting programming and then returning to building panto set, so I’ve not had much time for knitting. I’ve managed the odd few rows during tea breaks, so at least there has been some progress.

The black yarn is a lifeline and also indicates the end of the first sleeve.

I must admit, hearing that my sister had in fact ordered matching cardigans for me and the other bridesmaid may have taken some degree of urgency out of the project. (I hadn’t told her about my crazy knitting plan in case I couldn’t pull it off!) That said, I still want to get it done if I can.

Tall stories

It’s going ok so far. I’ve knit a whole sleeve, including a whole pattern repeat more than the pattern demands as I wanted it to hit at about 3/4 length rather than just above the elbow. I put in a lifeline at the point where the sleeve becomes the body and managed to add another 12 rows this evening.

The next few days will be slower progress as we’ve got our summer show going in at work, for which I am involved in rigging and programming the lighting, followed by a couple of days returning to the ongoing build of our Panto set. So knitting time will be restricted by finish times at work, and dependent on how tired I am after full busy days. I’ll get an hour or two at most each evening. Although I could perhaps take it with me to continue during my lunch break – that’d go down without any mocking in the green room, I’m sure!

Tall order

My sister is getting married in just over two weeks time and I will be one of her bridesmaids. I have a gorgeous navy blue dress to wear, and will need a shawl or a shrug to cover up later in the day. We’ve had trouble finding something commercially available, so when my sister suggested that I and the other bridesmaid don’t necessarily need to have matching ones, I had the ridiculous idea that maybe I could knit myself something. In two weeks. Yes. I’m stoopid.

So I found a yarn shop conveniently close to a location I needed to travel to anyway yesterday. They didn’t have the greatest selection of yarns – I wanted something cushy that wouldn’t break the bank – but I found something that I thought would do. I bought Peter Pan Petite Fleur DK in an off white colour, with the intention of knitting the Sonoma shrug, but on a quick double check of Ravelry on returning home, I found the Emma shrug from Quince and Co, which I thought would be a quicker knit as the lacework is less fiddly, and I also preferred the longer sleeves.

So I duly cast on and after about 12 rows and a couple hours work, I checked the rough guage of the piece and realised it was coming out a fair bit bigger than hoped. Some knit maths and calculating and a little mathematical help from the hubster and I ripped back and restarted on a size smaller and managed to get back to where I had been by the end of the evening. Now I just need to figure out what I’m doing wrong with my yarn-overs because they’re not looking like the open eyelets in the picture, and then knit like a crazy lady for the next two weeks. Cos it’s not like I’m working as well or anything!! Wish me luck!