I think that cardigan is the best thing you've ever made, and that's saying a lot because you're an amazing knitter! It looks like a fluffy squishy dream, and the buttons go so well with it.
Natalie - we're so glad you enjoyed the yarn -- can't wait to see it in your giant blanket! And there will be plenty left over for socks, etc. Hugs from New Jersey, Kathleen 🧡, Jen 💙, Amanda 💖 & Haley! 💜
They have foam bead similar to the coco knit at craft store & Walmart. If you invest in them you can gift them when you return the blocking board as a thank you. Your cardigan is so good! I hope you love it.
Stay warm. Knitting helps. Love the Nordlig cardigan. It’s beautiful. I enjoy these videos for the sheer fact you occasionally restart a project for whatever reason. Learning it’s not a race and to take the time to make the best project possible, is a great lesson. Sending my best to you, Kent and Toaster.
I have a blocking board like that and when I block my granny squares I usually don’t soak them fully, I just spray them with water from a spray bottle on both sides. I stack them on there and they dry pretty quickly. I also sometimes will flip them partway through, if I’m worried they’re not drying fast enough!
I have that same exact blocking board (I got mine on Etsy). I had no issues with my squares sliding on the pegs but I also had a slight amount of tension when I put min on them. The pegs were spaced at 6” and my squares measured about 5.75” preblocking.
I also have that blocking board off Amazon. I believe it comes in two sizes and that's the small size. Mine is the larger one, and I think I could block 4 stacks at a time of granny squares. If there's a floor vent in the house where warm air is coming out, you could prop up the blocking board over the heater vent and let that help the drying process. I've used a hair dryer on low speed before!
That's a great conversation around helical knitting - particularly because it's often for pooling prevention. But I also have a project that I feel like it's almost making the pooling more "pronounced" or worse looking than if I'd left it. And that was on a kettle dye single color. I think the first pair was neat that it was somewhat tie dye but the second start is so much more appealing to me and really showcases what the yarn is supposed to knit up like. Like you said, both are beautiful but totally different looks. Great idea on just waiting to blend the yarn balls before switching.
Hi Natalie ,, you do such beautiful work. I love watching all of your episodes. What I do with my blocking is I stack all of my squares, and I think using the pony beads is a great idea. 😁 I will definitely have to try that, anyway I stack all of my squares and I steam block and they seem to come out really nice. 😊
I got my board, plus an extra pack of pegs, off Amazon last spring. There are a million, so you have to pay attention to reviews. I had no issues with my granny squares sinking down, even with the board flat on the counter, but I had my squares under slight tension once on the pegs. I have a small fan that helped drastically speed up drying, too. I think the board is absolutely worth it if you have a lot of small shapes to block because of the ability to stack them.
Love your blanket 😍! Maybe you can cut the largest size of try-it-on tubing to cut to the size of your straws and you can reuse again and again? I don’t have a stand for my blocking board, but I put it at an angle on the heating units in our home.
I remember you wanting a structured tank to wear under sweaters, but if you are open to something just for coverage, I have really liked wearing HalfTee tops. They have both full length and half length (bralette length) tops, some in tank version, some with short sleeves, some with long sleeves even. Different necklines and colors too. I have a couple styles and colors for wearing under sweaters and I especially love wearing short sleeve half tees that protect my underarms from mohair sweaters since I’m sensitive there 😅 Plus the half tees length means it doesn’t feel like I’m wearing a full shirt under my sweater. Also, I literally just bought a blocking board like the one you borrowed, so the timing is perfect so I can get some tips and tricks from the comments!
I have a blocking board I got from etsy from an Australian seller (can't remember the name sorry). It is really cool because the holes are in such a layout that you can block squares, but also triangles, hexagons, octagons and diamonds. I didn't have the issue of them sinking down I think because I have only used them for things i've crocheted with cotton so I think because the yarn didn't have much stretch, and I blocked the shapes quite aggressively, the tension kind of stopped them slipping down. I have the cocoknits stoppers so I think I will try that idea if I use it for blocking things made from wool.
C2C is awesome! The year I started knitting my grandma was obsessed... 1st crochet project was I made a dish cloth next I made a c2c swatch and then made a graph and made a 4ft x 6+ft again for my guy
You could unravel and knit something else from the yarn from the unfinished beach pants or if you run short on yarn on your new pair you can just pull from that one and save your full skain of yarns for another project to match your beach pants
I think there was a big difference in the color pooling you discussed in the pants. To me, the yellowish color looks like a stain. That’s just personal preference. ❤❤❤
Others have said that too! For me that sounds too tedious 😅 I think since I fully wet block mine, it would also be wasteful to use even a small tub of water per square. It's been interesting to hear how everyone blocks differently!
I think the straws are a good idea, maybe save some more straws from fast food drinks, and put a little portable fan so it will blow air between the squares. That should help dry them quickly.
I have started my Yorkshire blanket squares with her yarn pack! It is really fun to make new squares. Thanks for the great inspiration!!! I have not used a blocking board, but could you block each square after you are done with it, that way it could drying while you are working on the next one.
Aww yay! I agree, this blanket is the best! I totally could have, but I'm already all finished with the squares. Plus I like to wash mine and it seems cumbersome to keep out a tub of water long enough to block 24 squares one at a time.
I dry block them on my board and if I feel like it needs a bit more then I use my steamer to steam block them while they are already on the board. And I got mine on Amazon
@ I just put them on the board and stretch them to practically their limit. Works pretty well with the redheart all in one granny squares and acrylic squares. For your wool ones I would probably steam block them
I actually made my own with a scrap piece of wood and screws ! For me, the ridges on the screws 'grip' the square so they don't slide compared to the ones there that seem super smoothe. Of course, I don't really have the option of changing the size for the square since they are screwed in, but just a thought.
I find swatching in knitting so complicated! Even if I make a swatch in the round, the gauge ends up usually looser in the project itself. But it does make sense, because it’s a slightly different technique when you do the trick round swatch and there is lots more fabric in the actual project itself. And then there is the blocking. I feel swatches grow less with blocking than a whole project does. So it always feels like a gamble to me. I would love a pair
I was worried you wouldn’t be happy with your gauge on those flare pants so I’m glad you’re going to frog them and tighten it up. I assume they will relax even more as you wear them, especially in the 🍑. Swatches lie to me all the time! Better to have a general idea of your typical gauge with that needle and type of yarn and then measure a few times as you go, to be safe. Luckily we enjoy the actual act of knitting, so a little frogging is always a good thing!
Beautiful cardigan! Have you thought about knitting a tank top so that it doesn’t end up as a workout top? I’m considering the mini mock neck by Jessiemade
Would you mind sharing what spin dryer you purchased? I am trying to transition my family to mostly natural fibers, and my kitchen is too small to lay all our knits out to dry on trash bags each time I clean everything 😂
I am here for the comments, that’s why I haven’t purchased that yet, though it looks so neat! Because I thought you could only block one square at a time. But the fact that it is made for steam blocking makes sense. 25:16 did you think about reaching out to your friend and designer Briana and asking her what she thinks? Or if she has any tips for you.?💛
Beautiful cardigan! I saw Fibre Tales podcast where she introduced it. I think she said it's pronounced Nord-lee. As for the blocking board - I have one (Amazon $40-ish) and I don't love it. Sane issues you have. I'm about to move from FL to France, so I'm getting rid of a lot. This board has not earned a place in my luggage. Kind of a waste for me.
Thank you! Oh I didn't even think about looking up the pronunciation. Congrats on your upcoming move! I'm with you, the blocking board is "nice to have" but definitely not a "need to have" for me.
Question :) how do you stop with helical knitting if you only do it to blend the end and beginning of a yarn? Because when you want to stop you have like a two rows difference in height on the right needle va the left needle. I can’t find anything online that explains this😅
I totally get what you're asking! I should of just... stop? If yarn 1 has run out, I'll still slip three to transition to yarn 2 for that round. But on the next round as I'm coming back with yarn 2, I don't slip anymore. I knit right up to the last stitch from yarn 1 and keep going. Then you can use the end from yarn 1 to close the hole.
@ thank you!! It sounds so wrong in my head to just keep going at that point hahah but maybe it makes more sense if I do it😅. I have to rip back a project which I did while completely helical knitting, but with reknitting I only want to do small bits of helical knitting so this will be helpful :)
I think that cardigan is the best thing you've ever made, and that's saying a lot because you're an amazing knitter! It looks like a fluffy squishy dream, and the buttons go so well with it.
Aww thank you so, so much! I'm really pleased with it!
You can use Pony Beads. they are like large sized seed beads. use pony beads as space holders between your squares.
So smart!
Hello from Swansea, Illinois.❤❤❤❤ I use pony beads on the rods as spacers.
Natalie - we're so glad you enjoyed the yarn -- can't wait to see it in your giant blanket! And there will be plenty left over for socks, etc. Hugs from New Jersey, Kathleen 🧡, Jen 💙, Amanda 💖 & Haley! 💜
You are the reason I found Yarnia. You guys, add just one knitting podcast to your life this year: Chronicles of Yarnia is so underrated and soo good.
Aww that makes me so happy to hear!
Thanks, Marie! 🧡🧡🧡
They have foam bead similar to the coco knit at craft store & Walmart. If you invest in them you can gift them when you return the blocking board as a thank you.
Your cardigan is so good! I hope you love it.
That’s a great idea! I need to go to the craft store today so I will look for these!
Stay warm. Knitting helps. Love the Nordlig cardigan. It’s beautiful. I enjoy these videos for the sheer fact you occasionally restart a project for whatever reason. Learning it’s not a race and to take the time to make the best project possible, is a great lesson. Sending my best to you, Kent and Toaster.
Thank you! Absolutely! I enjoy knitting on my projects so much more when I know I can use them 😄
I love the contrast of the vintage looking crochet squares with the super bright neon colours. So fun!!
Thank you!! That was my hope!
It's more for dry blocking or steam blocking.You can then block more squares at the same time to the top of the pins.
I have a blocking board like that and when I block my granny squares I usually don’t soak them fully, I just spray them with water from a spray bottle on both sides. I stack them on there and they dry pretty quickly. I also sometimes will flip them partway through, if I’m worried they’re not drying fast enough!
I use the spin cycle of my washing machine to spin out excess water for larger projects.
I have that same exact blocking board (I got mine on Etsy). I had no issues with my squares sliding on the pegs but I also had a slight amount of tension when I put min on them. The pegs were spaced at 6” and my squares measured about 5.75” preblocking.
Ooh thank you! That might be my issue. I didn't need to block much to get the size I needed so they were a bit droopy
I also have that blocking board off Amazon. I believe it comes in two sizes and that's the small size. Mine is the larger one, and I think I could block 4 stacks at a time of granny squares. If there's a floor vent in the house where warm air is coming out, you could prop up the blocking board over the heater vent and let that help the drying process. I've used a hair dryer on low speed before!
Oooh great idea! The heat being on totally helped these dry faster too!
That's a great conversation around helical knitting - particularly because it's often for pooling prevention. But I also have a project that I feel like it's almost making the pooling more "pronounced" or worse looking than if I'd left it. And that was on a kettle dye single color.
I think the first pair was neat that it was somewhat tie dye but the second start is so much more appealing to me and really showcases what the yarn is supposed to knit up like. Like you said, both are beautiful but totally different looks. Great idea on just waiting to blend the yarn balls before switching.
Hi Natalie ,, you do such beautiful work. I love watching all of your episodes. What I do with my blocking is I stack all of my squares, and I think using the pony beads is a great idea. 😁 I will definitely have to try that, anyway I stack all of my squares and I steam block and they seem to come out really nice. 😊
I got my board, plus an extra pack of pegs, off Amazon last spring. There are a million, so you have to pay attention to reviews. I had no issues with my granny squares sinking down, even with the board flat on the counter, but I had my squares under slight tension once on the pegs. I have a small fan that helped drastically speed up drying, too. I think the board is absolutely worth it if you have a lot of small shapes to block because of the ability to stack them.
Thank you so much for these tips! I think the tension is the part I'm missing!
Love your blanket 😍! Maybe you can cut the largest size of try-it-on tubing to cut to the size of your straws and you can reuse again and again? I don’t have a stand for my blocking board, but I put it at an angle on the heating units in our home.
I remember you wanting a structured tank to wear under sweaters, but if you are open to something just for coverage, I have really liked wearing HalfTee tops. They have both full length and half length (bralette length) tops, some in tank version, some with short sleeves, some with long sleeves even. Different necklines and colors too. I have a couple styles and colors for wearing under sweaters and I especially love wearing short sleeve half tees that protect my underarms from mohair sweaters since I’m sensitive there 😅 Plus the half tees length means it doesn’t feel like I’m wearing a full shirt under my sweater.
Also, I literally just bought a blocking board like the one you borrowed, so the timing is perfect so I can get some tips and tricks from the comments!
I have a blocking board I got from etsy from an Australian seller (can't remember the name sorry). It is really cool because the holes are in such a layout that you can block squares, but also triangles, hexagons, octagons and diamonds. I didn't have the issue of them sinking down I think because I have only used them for things i've crocheted with cotton so I think because the yarn didn't have much stretch, and I blocked the shapes quite aggressively, the tension kind of stopped them slipping down. I have the cocoknits stoppers so I think I will try that idea if I use it for blocking things made from wool.
Ooh that is cool! I think you're right about the stretch!
C2C is awesome! The year I started knitting my grandma was obsessed... 1st crochet project was I made a dish cloth next I made a c2c swatch and then made a graph and made a 4ft x 6+ft again for my guy
So cool! It's on my list to learn!
You could unravel and knit something else from the yarn from the unfinished beach pants or if you run short on yarn on your new pair you can just pull from that one and save your full skain of yarns for another project to match your beach pants
I think there was a big difference in the color pooling you discussed in the pants. To me, the yellowish color looks like a stain. That’s just personal preference. ❤❤❤
Your buttons are so pretty 💕
I’m afraid I always block one at a time! Very slow going I know- but it works! Great video!
Others have said that too! For me that sounds too tedious 😅 I think since I fully wet block mine, it would also be wasteful to use even a small tub of water per square. It's been interesting to hear how everyone blocks differently!
The cardigan 😍
I think the grey dust you wiped off on the metal rods is from them being powder coated to prevent rust!
Could be! It still had to come off though, yeah? It stuck to my hands badly so I feel like it would have stuck to my yarn and possibly stained it.
Maybe you could get a multi pack of foam ear plugs and poke holes all the way through. They also work as needle stoppers.
Good idea!!
I think the straws are a good idea, maybe save some more straws from fast food drinks, and put a little portable fan so it will blow air between the squares. That should help dry them quickly.
I blocked my squares one at a time by misting. Love the sweater. ❤️
One at a time though?! I guess that would have worked better for me if I did it while I made them 😅
@ as I finish, I store each square on my board. Then I stack them.
I have started my Yorkshire blanket squares with her yarn pack! It is really fun to make new squares. Thanks for the great inspiration!!! I have not used a blocking board, but could you block each square after you are done with it, that way it could drying while you are working on the next one.
Aww yay! I agree, this blanket is the best! I totally could have, but I'm already all finished with the squares. Plus I like to wash mine and it seems cumbersome to keep out a tub of water long enough to block 24 squares one at a time.
a little random but i really like old navy/gap for basics like tank tops :)
Thank you so much!
I dry block them on my board and if I feel like it needs a bit more then I use my steamer to steam block them while they are already on the board. And I got mine on Amazon
What is dry blocking? I've never heard of that
@ I just put them on the board and stretch them to practically their limit. Works pretty well with the redheart all in one granny squares and acrylic squares. For your wool ones I would probably steam block them
I actually made my own with a scrap piece of wood and screws ! For me, the ridges on the screws 'grip' the square so they don't slide compared to the ones there that seem super smoothe. Of course, I don't really have the option of changing the size for the square since they are screwed in, but just a thought.
That is so cool!! I wish I had the skills!
I find swatching in knitting so complicated! Even if I make a swatch in the round, the gauge ends up usually looser in the project itself. But it does make sense, because it’s a slightly different technique when you do the trick round swatch and there is lots more fabric in the actual project itself. And then there is the blocking. I feel swatches grow less with blocking than a whole project does. So it always feels like a gamble to me.
I would love a pair
I would love a pair of knitted shorts for summer, but I’m afraid I can’t get the sizing right.
Your cardigan is gorgeous!!!! Curious to read to see how other people stack on blocking boards.
Thank you! Yes, it's been so interesting to hear how everyone blocks differently! I'm thinking I expected too much out of the blocking board 😅
I was worried you wouldn’t be happy with your gauge on those flare pants so I’m glad you’re going to frog them and tighten it up. I assume they will relax even more as you wear them, especially in the 🍑. Swatches lie to me all the time! Better to have a general idea of your typical gauge with that needle and type of yarn and then measure a few times as you go, to be safe. Luckily we enjoy the actual act of knitting, so a little frogging is always a good thing!
Thanks for discussing the way gauge affects pooling more than alternating skeins does! You are bang on with that, even if it is a hot take. 😉
The buttons are cute.
They have the blocking boards on Amazon.
Beautiful cardigan! Have you thought about knitting a tank top so that it doesn’t end up as a workout top? I’m considering the mini mock neck by Jessiemade
Love your cardigan
Thank you!
Would you mind sharing what spin dryer you purchased? I am trying to transition my family to mostly natural fibers, and my kitchen is too small to lay all our knits out to dry on trash bags each time I clean everything 😂
Of course! It's the Panda spin dryer. I got it on Amazon! amzn.to/4jtubwm
It's off of Amazon
You're right! I think it's this one: amzn.to/40s1x6i
I have seen people put beads to separate the squares on blocking boards!
BEADS!!! That is brilliant!
I am here for the comments, that’s why I haven’t purchased that yet, though it looks so neat! Because I thought you could only block one square at a time. But the fact that it is made for steam blocking makes sense. 25:16 did you think about reaching out to your friend and designer Briana and asking her what she thinks? Or if she has any tips for you.?💛
I don't have a steamer, so I didn't even think about that, but that could work well!
39:11 I agree, 100% with you about Mufasa.😬💛
Beautiful cardigan! I wonder if you are planning to or have emailed the designer to share your pattern issues? It looks cozy and great on you.
Where did you get your water extractor/spinner that you use before blocking?
Maybe something like pony beads (those kid craft beads) would work on the blocking board.
I was thinking the same thing, likely something a friend might have laying around too
Beautiful cardigan! I saw Fibre Tales podcast where she introduced it. I think she said it's pronounced Nord-lee. As for the blocking board - I have one (Amazon $40-ish) and I don't love it. Sane issues you have. I'm about to move from FL to France, so I'm getting rid of a lot. This board has not earned a place in my luggage. Kind of a waste for me.
Thank you! Oh I didn't even think about looking up the pronunciation.
Congrats on your upcoming move! I'm with you, the blocking board is "nice to have" but definitely not a "need to have" for me.
Question :) how do you stop with helical knitting if you only do it to blend the end and beginning of a yarn? Because when you want to stop you have like a two rows difference in height on the right needle va the left needle. I can’t find anything online that explains this😅
I totally get what you're asking! I should of just... stop? If yarn 1 has run out, I'll still slip three to transition to yarn 2 for that round. But on the next round as I'm coming back with yarn 2, I don't slip anymore. I knit right up to the last stitch from yarn 1 and keep going. Then you can use the end from yarn 1 to close the hole.
@ thank you!! It sounds so wrong in my head to just keep going at that point hahah but maybe it makes more sense if I do it😅. I have to rip back a project which I did while completely helical knitting, but with reknitting I only want to do small bits of helical knitting so this will be helpful :)
How about little pieces of packing peanuts in between the layers? Thanks for another great video!
That could totally work!
I wonder if wine bottle corks would work as spacers in the granny square blocker? 🤔
Sure! As long as you cut them down
Are you guys going to move back to New York?
No immediate plans to move anywhere right now, but that could happen!