WIP and a question about blocking
I'm knitting Knitty's Shimmer for a friend of mine to wear during her wedding. Instead of the recommended Lion Brand yarn, I'm using Karabella Aurora 8, which is 100% merino wool, and just about my favorite yarn in the whole universe.
Apologies for how dark these are, the lighting in my apartment sucks.
The sleeve.
This is how my wrist looks with the sleeve on, so you can see how the end of the sleeve flares.
Now, it's not as smoothe as I'd like it, particularly around the increases, so I plan to block it, but I've never blocked a sweater-like object before, and I'm terrified of ruining the yarn somehow. How would you recommend I block merino? Should I block each piece (both sleeves and the back) separately or after I sew all the pieces together? Is blocking even necessary if my friend is going to wear it and stretch it such that it lies smoothly? Any tips?
I'm also wondering if anyone's made this shrug before? I'm very strongly leaning towards doing the back stockinette instead of the lace pattern, mostly because my friend is not crazy about the lace pattern. I think I can do it based on the instructions, but I was wondering if anyone has tried this?
Thanks in advance!
Apologies for how dark these are, the lighting in my apartment sucks.
The sleeve.
This is how my wrist looks with the sleeve on, so you can see how the end of the sleeve flares.
Now, it's not as smoothe as I'd like it, particularly around the increases, so I plan to block it, but I've never blocked a sweater-like object before, and I'm terrified of ruining the yarn somehow. How would you recommend I block merino? Should I block each piece (both sleeves and the back) separately or after I sew all the pieces together? Is blocking even necessary if my friend is going to wear it and stretch it such that it lies smoothly? Any tips?
I'm also wondering if anyone's made this shrug before? I'm very strongly leaning towards doing the back stockinette instead of the lace pattern, mostly because my friend is not crazy about the lace pattern. I think I can do it based on the instructions, but I was wondering if anyone has tried this?
Thanks in advance!