FO, but not really
Technically I have 2 FOs, but neither of them are truly finished. As I suspected, I wasn't happy with how the neckband of Lucky turned out. It's really, really hard to take a picture of myself wearing a sweater, but I did get a bad picture of the neckband.
As you can see, I had to gather the body a lot to ease the neckband in. I don't like that much gathering. Plus, it's actually too close-fitting now. I don't want it to be as wide as it would be if I didn't gather it at all, but I don't want it this close, either. I'm not upset that I sewed it together even though I knew it wasn't going to work well. I was able to try on the sweater and the rest of it fits pretty well, so I know it's going to look pretty nice once I get the neckband figured out. Which gives me great motivation to get that right. And now I know how much more neckband I might need. I'm going to rip it out and knit another 10" on the neckband and try again.
I also finished one of the snake scarves:
I sewed the scarf to a piece of fabric on the back so that it doesn't curl any more. I had knit a 4 stitch garter stitch edge, but that didn't keep it from curling, so I turned that edge over and sewed it to the fabric to cover the cut edges. Now I have to knit another one just like it for the other boy. That's the part that sucks. I think the scarf turned out really cute and I like how it looks around the neck - with the head hanging down on end and the tail down the other. But knitting two of the same thing is so very, very boring.
As you may have noticed, I did pin out and block the scarf. Which means I FINALLY tried out the steamer. I wanted to provide before and after pictures, but stockinette stitch in black really didn't show anything. I definitely could feel the stitch opening up with the steam, though. I think it'll work really well with lace! And it's much quicker than wet blocking.
I also tried the steamer on some clothes. It worked pretty well, though I'm not sure it's superior to ironing. It may be a little faster, but it's not as crisp as a good pressing. I took pictures of some pants. Here's the before:
The steamer came with a creasing attachment that allows you to clip the steamer head into the object and create a crease. That works very nice with pants:
As you can see, most of the wrinkles were removed, but it was hard to get the area in the middle, near the seam. Of course, my pants are pretty big, so if you have smaller pants, the attachment would cover more of the pant leg. There are a couple of water spots on there too, so you obviously wouldn't want to use a steamer on any fabric that you can't get wet. The attachment made a really nice crease. Here's a close up without flash because flash overexposed the photo.
Very nice crisp edge. I probably will use this to quickly steam out the major wrinkles and create a crease on pants, but will continue to use a regular iron on blouses and skirts.
As you can see, I had to gather the body a lot to ease the neckband in. I don't like that much gathering. Plus, it's actually too close-fitting now. I don't want it to be as wide as it would be if I didn't gather it at all, but I don't want it this close, either. I'm not upset that I sewed it together even though I knew it wasn't going to work well. I was able to try on the sweater and the rest of it fits pretty well, so I know it's going to look pretty nice once I get the neckband figured out. Which gives me great motivation to get that right. And now I know how much more neckband I might need. I'm going to rip it out and knit another 10" on the neckband and try again.
I also finished one of the snake scarves:
I sewed the scarf to a piece of fabric on the back so that it doesn't curl any more. I had knit a 4 stitch garter stitch edge, but that didn't keep it from curling, so I turned that edge over and sewed it to the fabric to cover the cut edges. Now I have to knit another one just like it for the other boy. That's the part that sucks. I think the scarf turned out really cute and I like how it looks around the neck - with the head hanging down on end and the tail down the other. But knitting two of the same thing is so very, very boring.
As you may have noticed, I did pin out and block the scarf. Which means I FINALLY tried out the steamer. I wanted to provide before and after pictures, but stockinette stitch in black really didn't show anything. I definitely could feel the stitch opening up with the steam, though. I think it'll work really well with lace! And it's much quicker than wet blocking.
I also tried the steamer on some clothes. It worked pretty well, though I'm not sure it's superior to ironing. It may be a little faster, but it's not as crisp as a good pressing. I took pictures of some pants. Here's the before:
The steamer came with a creasing attachment that allows you to clip the steamer head into the object and create a crease. That works very nice with pants:
As you can see, most of the wrinkles were removed, but it was hard to get the area in the middle, near the seam. Of course, my pants are pretty big, so if you have smaller pants, the attachment would cover more of the pant leg. There are a couple of water spots on there too, so you obviously wouldn't want to use a steamer on any fabric that you can't get wet. The attachment made a really nice crease. Here's a close up without flash because flash overexposed the photo.
Very nice crisp edge. I probably will use this to quickly steam out the major wrinkles and create a crease on pants, but will continue to use a regular iron on blouses and skirts.
rdladd@arnan.com
