Tuesday 4 October 2011

Tuesday's Tallies: Blocking

Hi lovelies,

Hurray, it's Tuesday! I made a lovely discovery today, boy oh boy, I'm so excited. But I will share the excitement at the end of the post, first I will share how I discovered it:

I must be honest, the progress hasn't been fasting up but I did do one a day for both my projects. The stripy project is not far enough to post about, so I will focus on the flower project. I wanted to know how I was progressing and the flowers tend to curl a lot. So to see how big they really are, I start blocking the first part. 


Look at all those pins, putting everything in place and revealing wonderful figures. For those of you that never blocked before, blocking is a method to shape your crochet project. Not all pattern require blocking, take for example my stripy project. It is loosely hooked and it is flat when I lay it down. But this flowery project is curling up like a little baby. By pinning it down and then spraying some water with a spray bottle the right shape will start to form.

The hardest part is waiting for 24 (!!) hours, if you don’t the project will start to curl again. By the way, I am not sure this method also works for non-organic yarn projects. This project is 100% cotton and other projects that I blocked were also made from organic yarn. Maybe some of my lovely followers can comment on this. 

Look at the difference between a blocked and a non-blocked flower:



And this is where the exitement kicked in. Because of the huge difference in size between blocked and non-blocked, the project is now so close to a FINISHED OBJECT! Also, I first wanted this project to cover my whole table. I don't fancy that idea anymore. I think it will be a bit much and a tablerunner would therefore be much suited for these flowers. Which again decreases the amount of flowers to make! I think I dare to say that in the next Tuesday's Tallies I will share a finished project, hurray! 

I'm so exited, and I just can't hide it, tutututututututu. 

Hope your having a blast with your one a day project too, haha ;-). You can check the other projects here at the Gingerbread Girl blog.

PS: Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures, I don't have my camera around and used my phone
P.P.S: In my next post I will share some little polymer clay charms I have been making!

21 comments:

  1. Hurray you have done well, and there is such a big difference between a blocked and non-blocked flower....they look so beautiful when they are blocked.

    Will be awesome to see it finished next week!! Also it will be lovely to see your charms as well :)

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  2. That is amazing work you have. Really pretty.

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  3. What a difference blocking makes and how exciting that you are so close to finishing - I'm very excited about next week's ta-dah!

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  4. A-MA-ZING! I can't believe it's almost done - it looks so beautiful!!!!! Can't wait for your ta-dah!!!!!!!!! xxxx

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  5. They look wonderful!
    In my experience, Acrylic yarns do not block with water. You have to "kill" it with an iron. Yes, that's what they actually call it. That's one of the reasons why I avoid using it, along with the fact it hurts my hands to knit with it.

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  6. I can´t wait to see it is finished, I´m sure your tablerunner will look wonderful. Oh, I want one too!!

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  7. WOW WOW I am totally in LOVE with those flowers! that will make an amazing table runner!!!
    xx

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  8. Thanks for explaining blocking, I'm new to crochet and didn't know how to block. It looks so pretty and what a diffference the blocking as made. Look forward to seeing the finished runner next week. Deb xxx

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  9. Ziet er goed uit! De bloemen zien er na het blokken echt heel anders uit!

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  10. a table runner is a great idea! I can't wait to see it :)

    I have an idea for making one for myself closer to winter time, I love table runners but have never actually had one!

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  11. Wow, good for you. They look even more amazing blocked. I'm so looking forward to your ta daa.

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  12. Your table runner is beautiful, everyone has already said how much they are looking forward to your ta-dah so you have to do it now!

    I haven't blocked much, but it definitely looks a worthwhile use of time when you discover you don't have to do much more, I have a blanket with tiny hexis which is going to take forever, however I don't think it will stretch to 20 times the size!

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  13. Your fine crochet is so beautiful and delicate. Hardcore blocking there!

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  14. Your flowers look fantastic blocked - how exciting that you're now so close to finishing it! :)

    As for blocking acrylic yarns - I have read that it doesn't work on them, but I've actually blocked a few things I've made using Stylecraft acrylic yarn and it's worked fairly well. I haven't tried ironing anything though so that could well work a lot better.

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  15. Congratulations!! They look so different when blocked, the detailing is much clearer :-) I think it will be a beautiful table runner x

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  16. Wow the blocking does make a huge difference, it will look awesome!

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  17. So delicate and pretty, I love it. And so much better after blocking, so you can see all the detail. Look forward to seeing it finished and in it's rightful place.
    Kier x

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  18. oh my goodness blocking made a massive difference and your runner is gorgeous. look forward to next week

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  19. Very stunning project. Blocking takes so long but it really does make such a huge difference

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  20. it looks beautiful! can i ask what pattern you used for the flowers?? I'm pretty tempted to give them a go myself!

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