Murphy Blocking

Dear Cynthia,

I want to first thank everybody who left comments on my previous post! It's so nice to hear from people "out there", and I just love this virtual knitting community! Today, it's back to normal...with exciting things like **blocking** and yarn shopping as topics. (The only reason I call blocking "exciting" is that it means there is a piece of knitting fresh off the needles and having most of the loose ends woven in.....)

Here is Murphy, fronts and back attached to each other, though sleeves still not sewn in. The edges on these sleeves were curling quite a bit, so I decided to block them separately (and make sure they were the proper dimensions) before sewing them into the sweater. I changed the collar a little bit. It was supposed to be a continuation of the colors in the sweater, so the right side of the collar was supposed to be the solid blue. However, that yarn is a smidge thinner than the hand painted yarn, and once doubled for the collar, I was afraid that the collar would look lopsided...

Just prior to that, I washed the thing in the washing machine, COLD water, GENTLE cycle, MILD dishwashing detergent. (Back when I was in college, somebody in the school of fiber something or other told me that Joy was a good brand to use for wool, and I still use it today.) Anyway, the washing machine spinning action really does a great job of removing a lot of excess water.

Now, my mind is racing with what to work on next. I think it is going to be the Sapporo (unisex colorway III). Remember my trip to the yarn store last week for double punch day? (Elizabeth - you asked if that was planned, and actually, since I knew I was going to make a significant purchase (Christmas gift certificate), I even called ahead to make sure it was going to be double punch day...but usually I'm not so careful about it...) Also in the batch of yarn I bought that day was a first time purchase for me -- Angora! I'm going to use it for this mobius scarf. I think it was a sign of God's approval when I was driving home from the yarn store that day and got behind a car having a license plate which read, "Mobius". Seriously.

I'm looking forward to seeing how your Dale kids' sweater is going! I loved the sleeve so far!

Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)