Sunday, June 08, 2008

Block Party

Berroco Ultra Alpaca grows. I have heard knitters comment on it, I have read posts about the amazing expandability of this yarn, and still I ignored the advice. Did I wash my swatch? No, of course not! Why not spend hours knitting a sweater with a 50" bust, only to wash it and experience the growing miracle yarn myself?

Here it is.


There is a little extra fabric -- about 1" more in length, and possibly 1/2-1" in width. But the sleeves... instead of 23", they're a good... 24, maybe 25" long, and the top of each sleeve is 23" wide instead of 21"...
Not too bad, and when it gets dry, it'll probably pull back together a little bit. Still, I've learned my lesson: wash your swatch. It's worth it. I know swatches lie, but you'll learn valuable things about your yarn.

Also a long time coming was the blocking of Tangerine Twist. You may remember my first seaming attempt, which failed because the sleeves didn't quite fit into their holes and I had to rip them back out. Now, I'm blocking the holes and hoping the sleeves will fit somehow. We'll see how things go.


I'm headed on another business trip next week, this time to New Jersey. I'm taking the train because it gives me extra time to work. It also gives me extra knitting time. I like extra knitting time.

10 comments:

weezalana said...

Sending good seaming vibes!

I have to admit, I wouldn't mind working outside the house again if I could take the train for free knitting time!

Bonnie said...

Oh, you are a brave woman, blocking and then finishing two garments at the same time. May both come out perfectly!

schrodinger said...

Oooh! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the sweater works out okay, that's a lot of knitting to see grow like that.

IrishGirlieKnits said...

Block party indeed!! Hope they both work out okay!! So close to being done!!

Bezzie said...

Oh I hope your TTwist sleeves work!

Have fun in Jersey!

SuzannaBanana said...

I'll bet it shrinks back into place when it's completely dry. I've had that "well, maybe I'll learn to like it a little bigger" mental negotiation before, only to have the garment tighten back up once the last bit of moisture was gone.

Mary, Mary... said...

Sooo close on Tangerine Twist--good luck! I'm going to be on a plane for at least 8 hours tomorrow which I calculate into primo WIP time. I'll play the Ramones on my iPod and think of you in Jersey...;)

sgeddes said...

Both look great! You ae so close to having two beautiful finished sweaters. I'm sending all my good seaming vibes you way!

soapy said...

ohh yes alpaca as well as llama both have a tendency to grow.... but isn't that particular yarn a
blend? You should much better results with it

Kitten With a Whiplash said...

Randomly finding blogs and came across yours. I see the picture under block party. Interesting, says I. Santa Pants, with the belt knit right in. Things are seldom what they seem, however, at least if I'm doing the looking. I hope it came back into the shape you want.