The Finish

I made it in to "Nome" about 40 minutes before the Red Lantern. Saturday was an epic knitting day and I'm glad everything worked out so that it could be an epic knitting day. I just knew the sheep shearer was going to call and say he was on his way...

I guess technically it's not really, really finished until the ends are woven in, but I purposely didn't weave my ends in.  Take a look at the really, really wavy patterning and the wonky ends.  If that didn't block out nicely.....well, I was prepared to frog the whole thing and make something else.  I'd been psyching myself up (or maybe out) the entire race.

By the time I got into the Wool House and folded it up, I was sort of willing to accept the wavy patterning.  Even not flat, it's still pretty.

The two ends though?  Ugh.  That just won't do and I couldn't imagine...and if it wouldn't I was already trying to think up a different way to re-work the ends.  

Block on with confidence.  It's wool.  Give it a chance.  Yeesh!  And into the washing machine it went.  

I soak large items in the washing machine with moderately warm/hot water and a little Mrs. Meyers laundry soap.  I then carefully spin it out, just like washing fleeces, pull it out, refill washer with plain water, resoak and spin, pull out, refill with warm water and a little Mrs. Meyers fabric softener (My name is thecrazysheeplady and I have an addiction to MM lavender ;-), soak for a couple minutes and spin.

At this point I had to locate my blocking pins.  That I hadn't used since...when?  When was the last time I actually finished a project?  Oh yeah, the Baaxter blanket from last Iknitarod.  Yeesh...  Finally found them in the office (?) and moved on to blocking.

Would it block out to my satisfaction?

Yeah, I guess I'll be weaving those ends in ;-).  Whew!!!  

Team Shot

Does this smile look familiar?

And that wonky end?  I have no idea how it blocked out straight, but it did.  And easily.  I'm surprised I have any friends left after so much whining about it :-o.

The reason I was going to be so willing to rip it all out and make something else was the yarn.  I love this yarn.  I love how it looks, feels, knits, shows patterning.  It may be my favorite yarn I've ever spun and knit with, all because of a little hint of Cotswold blended in.  

There wasn't anything wrong with the straight Liddy yarn, but for this particular project, I needed to think outside the box.  Or at least outside my head.  It's important to put all the pieces to the puzzle together correctly.  Knowing how different fibers work, how they might work together, is all part of the fun.

I tried to pick some pictures that look how the yarn feels.  Can you see that little hint of fuzziness (technically called halo)?  Can you see a tiny hint of shine (technically called luster)?  I am totally doing this blend again.  In fact, I'm going to try a little of Bullwinkle and Levi this spring.  Putting dark gray and white together might be too weird...but it might be pretty...  Heads up - don't answer your phone if you see it's me calling ;-D.

I love how this picture looks so much like drifting snow.  Or an icy river.  This project, Stories from Snoqualmie Valley, was the perfect Iknitarod challenge.  While I'd liked to have had more time to watch the race in real time or chat with the Ravelry group, I liked the "checkpoints", the "landscape" the section of endless miles of snow.  I felt right at home.

I'd also planned to tell some stories of my own.  Or Liddy's, I should say.  Even Buddy has some stories.  That he's happy to YELL ALL THE TIME ;-D.  Are you tired of hearing about all this or would you like to read a couple stories?