Crochet-Along Week 7

[svmatt]

Exceedingly disappointing. I don't do blocking. Bang, boom, end of story. Never have, never have needed to.

same here, stitchychic. Well, i do block for certain things, like clothes, especially if they're curling, but these I haven't.

anyone ever blocked a large one-piece blanket? I'm going to HAVE to block the orange mandala blanket i'm working on in order to get it to lie properly. but it's big (about 5' diameter), i have to use steam, and I dont' have a non-wooden surface anywhere handy I can do that one...can't use carpeted floors, can't use hardwood floors, can't use wooden kitchen table. suggestions? weather's not nice enough to do it outside on the deck..and that's wood too! when i was a teenager I once put a towel down on my mom's good antique mahogany dining room table and did my ironing on that cuz I was too lazy to get out the ironing board.....boy did i catch hell for THAT, and for good reason. I put a permanent white spot on the table which is still there (it's my table now).

jaz

You can do it on the carpeted floor. Put turkish towels down, secure the pieced, and spray lightly with cold water before using the steam. That way, the steam does not have to penetrate so far. Put a clean sheet over the whole thing, and let air dry. It should work beautifully!

[Laina]

Hooray!!! I FINALLY finished the last of my motifs last night! Now I just have to block them...which I've never done before...but I'll give it a try tomorrow. Mom will be out of the house all day, so she won't get a sneak preview of her Mother's Day gift Hopefully I can try using the iron to steam them...it's going to be an adventure!

Aww, how sweet of you, crochet 612. So you've been able to keep this a secret so far? Does she know you're busy crocheting something?

Can't wait to hear from you when she receives her beautiful gift of love. This is what she'll do.

Laina:-)

[crochet612]

Hooray!!! I FINALLY finished the last of my motifs last night! Now I just have to block them...which I've never done before...but I'll give it a try tomorrow. Mom will be out of the house all day, so she won't get a sneak preview of her Mother's Day gift Hopefully I can try using the iron to steam them...it's going to be an adventure!

Aww, how sweet of you, crochet 612. So you've been able to keep this a secret so far? Does she know you're busy crocheting something?

Can't wait to hear from you when she receives her beautiful gift of love. This is what she'll do.

Laina:-)

So far she hasn't figured it out...I've been busy on my lunch hours and late at night lol! I showed some of the motifs to Dad the other day, and he liked them I'm so excited to finish it so I can give it to her!

[jla]

I am glad that we have this week for catch-up. Sometimes life just gets in the way and your best intentions to crochet just doesn't happen. This should be a fun time for every one.

[zhanie]

I will be going to Wales in the summer for my cousin's wedding. I think that this blanket may be the one, for a wedding gift.

[sbeth]

I haven't even started yet...thank goodness for this week break to catch up. I lost my grandmother three weeks ago so this has taken a back burner. Now that things have calmed down a little I can finally pick out some yarn that will work with my room decor and get cracking.

so sorry about your grandmother, it is coming up on the one year anniversary of my grandmother's passing. This CAL has brought back a lot of good memories of her. She is the one who taught me to crochet when I was a teenager. I still miss her today.

Thanks...Mimi was very much loved by her grandkids and her three great grandkids.

[sbeth]

I haven't even started yet...thank goodness for this week break to catch up. I lost my grandmother three weeks ago so this has taken a back burner. Now that things have calmed down a little I can finally pick out some yarn that will work with my room decor and get cracking.

Oh dear! I'm so sorry your grandmother passed away.

Thanks...Mimi had a stroke 18 yrs ago and I had a feeling something wasn't right with her at Christmas. She had an infection somewhere, a pressure sore, a UTI she couldn't shake, and we suspect pneumonia. She came home from the hospital and was put on Home Hospice. I was over at my Aunt's all day for almost two weeks. It was very tiring just sitting there doing nothing except waiting. It helped some that my 15 month old cousin was over and keeping us entertained. I have this picture of her "hugging" Mimi's feet, but she just laid her head on Mimi's feet and went "awww"

[Shandeh]

I will be going to Wales in the summer for my cousin's wedding. I think that this blanket may be the one, for a wedding gift.

Good plan! I would love to see that part of the world.

[Patty]

I haven't even started yet...thank goodness for this week break to catch up. I lost my grandmother three weeks ago so this has taken a back burner. Now that things have calmed down a little I can finally pick out some yarn that will work with my room decor and get cracking.

Oh dear! I'm so sorry your grandmother passed away.

Thanks...Mimi had a stroke 18 yrs ago and I had a feeling something wasn't right with her at Christmas. She had an infection somewhere, a pressure sore, a UTI she couldn't shake, and we suspect pneumonia. She came home from the hospital and was put on Home Hospice. I was over at my Aunt's all day for almost two weeks. It was very tiring just sitting there doing nothing except waiting. It helped some that my 15 month old cousin was over and keeping us entertained. I have this picture of her "hugging" Mimi's feet, but she just laid her head on Mimi's feet and went "awww"

sbeth,
I am so sorry for your loss. The memory of your young cousin 'hugging Mimi's feet' is a sweet one that will help as time goes on. My Mom passed earlier this year and one of the great-grandkids pics up her picture & hugs it to her heart. The sweetness of youth is always a gift.

[Patty]

Hi everybody!

....."If you're done your motifs, this week take time to block (we promise it's worth it!) and come up with your own ideas for motif arrangements, which you can share on the Blanket Possibilities post. Since a lot of members aren't considering blocking, I thought I'd explain why it's wise to block your motifs. The CAL motifs involve a lot of open, almost lacy, spaces, but they show up best when the fabric has blocked because it allows everything to lay uniformly flat, and many of the stitches to open up to their full potential. Check out the Ravelry discussion on the befores and afters of blocking to see how amazingly blocking can help a project.

Thanks Kaleigh, the Ravelry site gave excellent info & now I'm off to block!

oh bother Decided to start blocking with clue 1 and much to my amazement, they are too small, can't even block them to size. Thankfully a later post suggested to add a border around each on rather than frogging and starting over. So many thanks to the one (and I'm sure there are probably several of you ) who suggested that tip!