Today I blocked the socks on my moose sock blockers – they are a beautiful wood with a moose cut-out at the top and are just my size. You can put wet socks on them because they are finished with a waterproof varnish.
I also got the neckbands finished on the linen top. I had to do the cast-off on each of the neckbands 3 times because it flipped out at the edge when I followed the instructions. I ended up doing K2tog every 4th stitch and then binding off and that decreased the flare. I had already dropped down a needle size and was binding off tightly. It looked much better the third time. This project was a total act of faith and I still don’t know at this moment how it will turn out. I just now threw the top in the dryer to see what the finished size will be. I bought the pattern and yarn 5 or 6 years ago. The pattern is “Elizabeth” (2002) from Louet sales and is written for the Euroflax heathers yarn. I had taken a class about “knitting to fit” and so swatched this project using the pattern stitch as recommended, washed and dried the swatches to figure out the correct needle sizes and then what size to knit. I used Addi turbos size 4.5 and 4.0 mm, which are a size smaller than the pattern. I usually knit pretty loose. Also, I was 10 lbs lighter when I started this top, and it is very fitted, so don’t know how it will fit me, even if it comes out like I planned. The linen yarn is also a challenge to knit with (although actually fun and very beautiful), and so I had lost faith in the whole project about ½ way through. However, since my New Year’s resolution (this year) was to finish my UFOs, I picked it back up in January, and decided it would fit someone. I will know the answer tomorrow when it is completely dry. It is recommended to wash in the machine, dry for 15 minutes at low heat and then finish drying flat. I will put the 2 buttons on the shoulder straps tomorrow, after it is dry, and I can see where the buttons should go. Time to finishing from starting on it yesterday – 2.75 hours. It will probably take another ½ hour to put the buttons on, although it may take hours to pick them out. Now off to work on the fichu shawl.
The pictures below are after removing the top from the dryer, and you can see it has gained 4.5 inches across, or 9 inches around (26 inches bust to 35 inches). I am 40 inches, but it is very stretchy (I hope)! The linen feels wonderful.
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