I just finished knitting my second adult sweater!  And yes it’s for me.  Oh boy, that makes me feel a bit selfish, but really Christmas is coming and then the season of knitting like mad for others will start.  This sweater is called February Lady Sweater from knitting legend Elizabeth Zimmerman’s book Knitting Almanac.  It is free on Ravelry.  Once the project is off the needles, then the process of blocking it begins.

First step is washing.  I use a special product called “soak” that you can get at your local knitting shop.  Here she sits for 15 minutes.

Then without wringing, you get as much water out as possible.  I do the roll in the towel method which always makes me think about washing my mom’s nylons and tights when I was a young lass.  Must have been an easy chore since I got the privilege of doing it.  (Yes, a few of my own tights were always in there as well.  I begged my mom to treat me like Cinderella when I was little, but she was never very good at it.  Geez mom.)

Then you lay it out, shaping and pinning it exactly as you want the final product to be.  I pulled on the length a bit since I wanted it a little longer, but didn’t pull much on the sleeves since they were a good length already.  Blocking makes a world of difference for your knitting!

Sideways picture, but this gives you an idea of what the color really is and the lovely wooden buttons I got for it at Darn Knit Anyway in Stillwater MN.  I bought some other more organic feeling buttons, but with all the lace action in the majority of the sweater, the simpler buttons won out.

I’m still waiting for it to finish drying.  My hope is in the morning I can try it on…it better fit!