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[yuuago]

Iiii still am not feeling well, which means I'm kind of braindead, which means that nothing useful is getting accomplished this weekend, I think.

...Except maybe knitting. I finished one scarf project - and will hopefully post some photos in a few days. It's one of these; I've done one before, in acrylic (this was when I was evacuated and living in my uncle's RV for I can't remember how many weeks) but I liked it so much that I decided to make another. Going to have to block it, though... I've actually never blocked anything before, so this will be interesting. :T With this pattern it's unavoidable, because it rolls up at the edges, which is tolerable in the acrylic version I guess, but it'll look so much better when it's blocked as intended.

There's also this other in-progress scarf that's been sitting around for ages (this pattern) and I'm going to finish it, I swear. That's what happens when I start projects that are not easy to memorize; if I can't do them without looking at instructions, they tend to sit around for like, a year.

Nothing else to say, sooo here, have some tunes:

☆ You Got to Run (Spirit of the Wind) - Buffy Sainte-Marie and Tanya Tegaq. Oh my GOSH, I love this collaboration. I'm not familiar with Tanya Tegaq's work, but this is making me want to check it out. *_* This song is INTENSE.

☆ Iqanajarumanngittunga by The Jerry Cans. I'll do a review of the whole Inuusiq album eventually (probably), because I really love it. Anyway, check this one out if alt-country sung in Inuktitut sounds appealing to you. This one's a bouncy, cheery, upbeat tune.

☆ Sluhove by Poli Genova & Grafa. I was poking around to see if Poli had been doing anything musically, as I liked her 2016 Eurovision song so much. I have no idea what the heck's going on with the aesthetic in this video (dramatic posing with windmills...?) but I kind of dig it. xD Ah, whatever, I just love her voice.

Comments

[idleleaves]

Ooh, I like both those patterns!

I am a confirmed Blocking Nut. I block absolutely everything - including dishcloths. Have you decided what kind of blocking you're doing?

[yuuago]

Iiiii... no. In fact I haven't looked up instructions on how to block, period. ////

Any suggestions? :'D

[idleleaves]

Depends on the fibre, tbh. If it's wool or another natural fibre, I really like wet-blocking - soaking the thing in warm water (plus a splash of woolwash if you have any) for half an hour or so, then rolling in a towel and jumping on it (yes) to get most of the water out, then pinning it out (with a million pins) to the shape I want to get it into and leaving it to dry completely. For acrylic that doesn't work as well as steam - I like to pin to desired shape them use a steam iron and hover it over the piece a bit at a time until it relaxes and stays where I want it to.

/blocking nerd. I used to teach finishing classes (blocking, finishing lacework, buttonholes, seaming, all that fun stuff) at the local yarn shop. Whee!

[yuuago]

It's hand-dyed wool, so it sounds like wet might be a good idea. I have some Eucalan, which should be fine for the washing, since it's supposed to be fine on wool.... Think I'll have to end up using the ironing board to pin it down, there aren't very many flat surfaces in this house. xD

I'm concerned about colour transfer though, do you ever have problems with that?

[idleleaves]

Eucalan's what I use, too.

Ironing boards work! I used my bed once. Ha. Now I use a set of those foam interlocking play mats they sell for kids.

I haven't had a lot of bad experiences with colour bleed/transfer, tbh. I do occasionally get some dye runoff, though, when working with really bright reds/pinks or oversaturated purples. What colours is your yarn?

[yuuago]

It's a dark blue/purple with bits of green/gold. Here's a photo of it (unfortunately my bedroom lighting was not ideal... it looks very purple here)
http://www.ravelry.com/people/Yuuago/stash/everlasting-sock--shawl-3
Since it's so dark, that's what had me concerned.

[idleleaves]

Ooh, that's pretty!

You might get a bit of purple runoff from that, depending on how well the dyer has set the dye. I like to just sort of poke my knits into the water and submerge them just enough for them to be wet without swishing the water around - it seems to work to keep any dye runoff from swirling around and discolouring other parts of the skein. Most of the time I don't find much issue with dye bleed, though - hand-dyers tend to be pretty good with this lately.

[yuuago]

Hmm, okay. So, be gentle with it, basically? Yeah, I can do that. xD
Thanks for this, it's been very helpful. <3 It sounds a little less scary now. ;)

[idleleaves]

Basically, yes. :D

You're welcome!

[monksandbones]

OMG, your music recs! The Buffy Sainte-Marie/Tanya Tagaq collab sooooooo good! And I have to look more into the Jerry Cans too!

[yuuago]

I KNOW EH.

I think most (all?) of the tracks from that Jerry Cans album have been uploaded to youtube, so it'll be easy enough to see what their other stuff sounds like. They popped up in my recs one day and I was like WHOA WHAT IS THIS.... :D

[laufeyknits]

This post could totally have been written by me. XD Except I block block block everything, always, but then again I almost always knit wool and it's just... it just looks nicer blocked, plus blocking gives Icelandic wool some weather resistance, which is kinda vital over here. I steam block, meaning I pin the piece in the planned shape, cover with a wet cloth and press it gently with an iron on wool setting. Then let dry completely before removing the pins.

I hope you'll start feeling better soon.

[yuuago]

Hmm, that sounds like it could be a good option too... I suppose once I'm finished this other scarf, I can do it in this method too, and see which one I like best. xD

[dhampyresa]

Get better soon, yuu <3