The Dreaded Triple B : Blocking Before Bed
I finished knitting my Etta hat last night. I sewed in the ends and tried it on. Meh. Since I've never really worn slouchy hats before, I thought it was just because I didn't know what it was supposed to look like on this melon I call a head. I took it off my head and stretched it slightly with my hands and thought, Well, there's plenty of stretch in it. Maybe I should block it.
So, at 11 o'clock on the night before the clocks changed, I got out a basin, soaked the hat, and then stretched it over a bowl. And, wow... did it ever stretch. I stood there, looking at it, wondering if I'd just made the world's most expensive apple-basket liner (it is partly cashmere, after all), but then I shrugged my shoulders, brushed my teeth and walked up the stairs to bed.
I got to the top of the stairs and stopped. I went back down the stairs to stare at the bowl. Hmph.
Back up the stairs and into bed. Tossed and turned for a bit. What if it's just too enormous? Can I reblock it? Should I take the hairdryer to it in the morning and try to shrink it? No, I'll just make it worse.
The bad thing about blocking something before bedtime is that I spend all night feeling slightly worried. I dreamed about chasing an Irish wolfhound around my house (which was not my house, but a mixture of my parents' house and some other random place), and was getting progressively more frustrated because this was making me late for a taco lunch which my workmates had prepared in my kitchen. Just as I'd tackled the wolfhound to the ground...
I awoke to the sound of my doggie flapping his ears to tell me he was hungry. After I let him out, I sat and contemplated the bowl with the hat on it.
I had an extra bowl just like the bowl blocking the hat. I tried the bowl on my head. I looked like head of the kitchen army.
Hmmm.
I left it to dry further in the sun, hoping some of the heat from the sunshine would take up some of the slack. I made bannock, bacon and eggs for hubby and me for breakfast, then whipped up two batches of lemon squares, kind of a lemon chiffon on a graham cookie base. I tried not to look at the bowl.
Took the doggie out for a long walk. Went swimming. Ate my lunch.
Then, I realized it was dry.
And it's actually ok.
I'm still getting used to it, and the unfortunate thing (for hat-wearing folk) is that it has warmed up outside. I actually got pretty overheated taking pictures of me wearing it, but it's still springtime weather, cool enough to warrant wearing a slouchy hat.
And, you know what? It looks way better than wearing a bowl on your head.
So, at 11 o'clock on the night before the clocks changed, I got out a basin, soaked the hat, and then stretched it over a bowl. And, wow... did it ever stretch. I stood there, looking at it, wondering if I'd just made the world's most expensive apple-basket liner (it is partly cashmere, after all), but then I shrugged my shoulders, brushed my teeth and walked up the stairs to bed.
I got to the top of the stairs and stopped. I went back down the stairs to stare at the bowl. Hmph.
Back up the stairs and into bed. Tossed and turned for a bit. What if it's just too enormous? Can I reblock it? Should I take the hairdryer to it in the morning and try to shrink it? No, I'll just make it worse.
The bad thing about blocking something before bedtime is that I spend all night feeling slightly worried. I dreamed about chasing an Irish wolfhound around my house (which was not my house, but a mixture of my parents' house and some other random place), and was getting progressively more frustrated because this was making me late for a taco lunch which my workmates had prepared in my kitchen. Just as I'd tackled the wolfhound to the ground...
I awoke to the sound of my doggie flapping his ears to tell me he was hungry. After I let him out, I sat and contemplated the bowl with the hat on it.
I had an extra bowl just like the bowl blocking the hat. I tried the bowl on my head. I looked like head of the kitchen army.Hmmm.
I left it to dry further in the sun, hoping some of the heat from the sunshine would take up some of the slack. I made bannock, bacon and eggs for hubby and me for breakfast, then whipped up two batches of lemon squares, kind of a lemon chiffon on a graham cookie base. I tried not to look at the bowl.
Took the doggie out for a long walk. Went swimming. Ate my lunch.
Then, I realized it was dry.
And it's actually ok.
I'm still getting used to it, and the unfortunate thing (for hat-wearing folk) is that it has warmed up outside. I actually got pretty overheated taking pictures of me wearing it, but it's still springtime weather, cool enough to warrant wearing a slouchy hat.And, you know what? It looks way better than wearing a bowl on your head.
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