Speaking of costumes, I am almost finished with my shirt for this year and finished my vest a week or so ago. Once the shirt is finished I will get a photo posted of both together. My father’s shirt I took to the local embroidery shop here and chose a simple design from one of their books. I will post a photo of that when I get it back as well.

Many of you have asked about the next Secret of the Stole KAL. I am currently working on two patterns right now. The first is a secret knit a long that will begin in June for the Atlanta Knitters Guild. I am speaking at their monthly meeting on the topic of secret knit a longs and have been designing a pattern just for them. If you are anywhere near Atlanta and would like to meet me or participate in the knit a long, please come to the meeting. It should be lots of fun. The pattern will be available for purchase when the knit a long is over.

The second pattern is for the Secret of the Stole IV.  The yahoo group for this stole exists, but is NOT open for membership yet.   I have the pattern pretty much completed, but not test knitted. Realistically, starting school and designing the other pattern is going to set back the timing a little. Hopefully, the Secret of the Stole IV can begin sometime in June or July. Keep your fingers crossed…

Fair Winds

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Here is the list of bags you see in the video and their contents.

Bag #1 – Pattern – Sunflower Designs “Iris“; Yarn – Xie Bamboo Fiber #469

Bag #2 – Pattern – Knitpicks “Rona“; Yarn Knitpicks “Dye your own lace weight” that I dyed in blueberries

Bag #3 – Pattern – Sunflower Designs “Hydrangea“; Yarn – Xie Bamboo Fiber #492

Bag #5 – Pattern – “DaVinci Shawl“; Yarn – Yarn Place “Touch” (this yarn is so soft!!)

The winning bag was #4 – Pattern – Knitting Delight – “Way of Life Stole“; Yarn – Knitpicks “Alpaca Cloud” Moss colorway

If you would like to knit along with me on the winning project, you can find the instructions here.  It is a yahoo group and you have to join to get the pattern parts.  Leave me a comment if you want to knit along with me.  If you don’t, that is ok, just stay tuned to watch my progress.  Catch ya later, I’m off to cast on!!  Whee!!!

I have been waiting for what seems like forever to do this post.  In August our son Bryan was married and I did a short blog post about it.  I have been unable to post photos of the wedding because the stole that I made for his bride was the pattern for the Secret of the Stole III.  Now that the last hint has been released I can finally show you a few of the thousands of photos their “official” photographer (Mr. K) took of the nuptials.  I still cannot reveal the name of the stole, but the photos cannot wait any longer.

The above photos were taken during Sara’s bridal shoot.  She was a beautiful bride!  The ceremony (below) was performed outdoors at her parent’s cabin in Colorado.  The mountains as a backdrop made this, truly, a most scenic wedding setting.  The beauty of the mountains, trees, and lakes and, the intimate ceremony with close family and friends, made this a memory that they will forever cherish.

If you would like to see more of the Amazing wedding images that Mr. K shot, as well as his other incredible photography work, please hop over to his site at ScottFillmer.com and click on Gallery at the top of the page.  I will be revealing the name of the stole pattern in about a week with additional photos.  Fair Winds.

We soaked the stole in clean warm water and a little bit of knit wash.  You can use baby shampoo, mild detergent, or even nothing but water.  Without agitation, we made sure the stole was thoroughly wet and then laid it out on towels, which we then rolled up to keep the stole moist.

Unrolling it a little at a time, we laced the welding rods through the very edges of the stole all the way around, using a new rod whenever needed.  For each rounded edge, we used only one rod per end so that the edge would not have a point or jagged look.  After “installing” all the rods in the edges of the stole, we then removed it from the towels and placed it on our blocking mats.

Working on the straight edges first, we placed pins into the boards in a way that would hold the wires apart, stretching the lace to the proper width.  This is something that can be greatly manipulated in this type of lace, so you will want to make the stole the width that looks right to you.  After the straight edges are “straight” and pinned down the proper width apart, we curved the end wires out and pinned them down as well.  This is very easy to do, provided you use one wire.

After you have the entire stole pinned out you will want to go back and adjust the pins and the width and length until it looks good to you.  Let the stole dry in this position and then, when dry, remove it from the boards and weave in any ends of yarn.

For more information on blocking lace in general, visit our previous post on blocking a stole or shawl.

Finally, wear your stole with pride and don’t put it away in a drawer.  You worked very hard on this beautiful piece of lace, show it off!  Enjoy.

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So turning to the Internet for answers, a quick Google search will produce way too many various excellent results on this subject. I compiled my own list of top blocking tips here from those results and my own experience. Let’s get started.

Blocking Surfaces: Where do I block my item? What type of surface do I need?

There are many creative blocking surfaces these days. The most important things to look for in a blocking surface are:

1. Can pins be attached or stuck into to the surface?
   This is important because the item needs to be stretched out, pinned down, and left to dry. The best way to do this is to use straight pins and push them into the blocking surface.
2. Is the surface large enough for my finished piece when stretched?
   Take into consideration the finished size of the item from the pattern designer. This will give you a rough idea of how much surface area you will need to successfully block your finished item. Obviously, you will need less blocking surface for a pair of socks than a shawl or stole.
3. Is the surface in a place that it can stay for a day or so? Or, will it need to be portable? Do I have somewhere to store the surface when I am finished using it?Here are two of the surfaces that I find the most convenient and useful.Foam Insulation -
   If space and storage are not an issue (see below), the most economical surface to use would be the foam insulation board that is sold at virtually all home improvement stores. This board is almost always a pink color, is made of foam and is very light. The pieces are sold in 4 x 8 foot sheets and are very portable, even once the piece is blocked. These boards can be propped up against a wall after the piece is blocked out on them which keeps little hands and paws off. This surface can also be modified, made more portable and storable, by cutting it in squares and taping them together with Gorilla tape, found in the same stores (which is much stronger and more durable than duct tape).If you are so inclined, you can attach gingham fabric to your board like Yarn Maven did and have a square surface reference for accuracy of straight edges.Interlocking Play Mats -
   This is the surface that I use. These mats are a little more expensive than the insulation and can be found at toy stores and sometimes at the bigger warehouse stores. The foam that these mats are made of is very dense and they last much, much longer than the insulation. I live in a small house and an even smaller boat and the advantage of these mats is that when I need to block an item I can pull them out and “lock” them together in whatever configuration I need to attain the correct sized blocking surface for my item. When I am finished I can “unlock” them and put them away again.
4. Do I really need to purchase a blocking surface?
   No, if you have a bed or mattress, carpeted floor that is clean or that you can lay a sheet out on, or even a trampoline outside on a cloudy, non-freezing, day you can block your knitted item. All of these surfaces require attention to surrounding issues, like little people, animals, and in the case of the trampoline, weather. Additionally, there are several commercially available “blocking boards” out there and it just takes a quick Google search to find them. They can be pricey though and in the end are basically the same as the two more economical alternatives above.

Blocking Tools: What supplies do I need to block my item?

There are very few tools required to block a knitted item. Blocking wires and rods, string and dental floss, which to choose?

Blocking wires and rods -

These two terms seem to be used interchangeably and they are basically stainless steel rods (or spools of wire) that are about .030″ in thickness are very flexible and come in a variety of lengths. There are many for sale on the Internet, sold as “blocking wires” for knitters. However, the more economical way to go (what I use) is stainless steel welder’s rods that can also be found on the Internet and in some hardware/welding supply stores for a fraction of the cost.

String and dental floss -

An even more economical way to block your items is with a string or even, dental floss. Here is a wonderful tutorial on how to block with string.

Pins -

Always use rustproof, stainless steel straight pins for blocking your knitted pieces.

Techniques: Steam, wet or dry blocking. Which do I use and how do I do it?

Blocking at different stages of a knitted item’s development require different techniques.

Dry -
I use dry blocking, almost always, when I want to take a progress photo. This is pretty much the only time I use this method. To use this method, you can use rods or just pins. Gently stretch your piece out on your blocking surface and pin in place.

Steam -
The steam method can be used for small projects, but I would not recommend it for larger pieces or for pieces that have been worn. This method uses a combination of heat and water to “set” the lace in a certain place. The reason I don’t recommend it for items that have been worn is that if there are any potential stains, grease, or that type of thing on the piece they will be permanently set in by using this method. This method is, however, handy for making a particular section of the lace item “behave” after wet blocking.

Wet -
This is the method I use most often and here are the basic steps.

1. Fill a clean sink, tub, or other container with cool clear water. If laundering or re-blocking a mild soap can be added and then you would need to repeat this step with another bath of clear clean rinse water.
2. Gently immerse your item in the water, making sure not to agitate the item.
3. Remove the item from the water and place in a colander to drain or place in between thick towels and apply pressure. It is very important not to agitate, squeeze or wring your item because it will begin to felt if you do this.
4. If the item is long, like a stole, scarf, or shawl, take it to a place where you can sit with it. There is no need to run your wires through your piece while hunched over your blocking surface. Begin to run your blocking wires along the outside edges through the yarn over’s or motifs.
5. Try to keep your “weaving” of your wires through the edge motifs consistent if possible. For example, go in one yarn over and come back out three down, repeat.
6. Once you have your wires in place, lay your piece on the blocking surface and begin to pin the edges down. I stick the pins on the inside of the wires, with the head of the pins at an angle away from the piece. This keeps the wires from popping up and over the pins.
7. When you finish pinning down one edge, move to the opposite side and pin down that edge. Continue this process until the entire piece is blocked or pinned down.
8. You will want to gently stretch your piece until it has equal and moderately tight tension throughout. Lace is amazingly strong and conformable during the blocking process, so don’t hesitate to stretch, pin, re-stretch, and re-pin until the piece looks the way you want it to.
9. If your piece has long straight edges you may want to use a yardstick or other straight edge of some sort to make sure the edges of your piece are as straight as possible. Keep in mind that however the piece dries it will stay until the next time you block it.
10. Allow the piece to dry. This can take an hour to a day or two depending on the piece, yarn used, etc.
11. Un-pin and enjoy!

Here are a few of the links that I found the most helpful when I was searching for information on this topic:

• Knitpicks
• Heart Strings
• Blockheads
• Eunny Knits

Please excuse the ocean background, we did not get a chance to do a separate audio recording so we didn’t have a way to reduce the background ocean noise. Be sure to check out the video on chart reading for all those who have not yet taken the plunge and used a knitting chart to complete your pattern.

To view the video just click below. Happy Knitting!

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