Friends in nice places

Apart from Karin living it up in Switzerland, I've made a new friend Mr B. He is a model railway enthusiast whom I met at a BBQ recently- who just happened to have loads and loads of UPVC (I think) lying around in his work room not doing very much. Do you ever have those moments where the light bulb literally goes off in your head? Well I did. I thought mmm, flatboard stuff equals blocking board. With much fluttering of eye lashes, I managed to secure 2 pieces of board both A1 size. With more fluttering of said eyelashes (I'm told they are my best feature!!) I engaged the help of my neighbour and voila - we have a blocking board.

Blocking board is already hard at work.
2 of the items you see are for my Rowan exchange recipient. They go off tomorrow - slightly late
but better late than never. In the upper left corner, you can see the remnants of the tools used to make the board - glue and a stapler - very technical!!.

I'm going to experiment with the second piece of board. I used a double piece of thick wadding and covered it with gingham. The second piece I will do differently. Other blogs I've read, (mainly in the US) have used a blanket doubled and then covered it with canvas, so I'm thinking of using this method. They have also used a board base called Homasote - which appears to be a trademark name so I'm not sure what the actual medium is and have no idea what the UK equivlent would be. I think it is wood or pulp based, but I'm not too sure about that. I think it may be a form of hard board. My only hesitation with using a blanket is it becoming too soggy. I knit mainly in cotton which even when only slightly damp, can hold quite a bit of water. I'm concerned that the blanket will remain soggy or damp long after any blocked garment has been removed. The aim is to find the best method to make the blocking board and make 4 altogether. This is in preparation for projects like St Brigid. You may wonder why I'm going through all the tedium of making the board rather than buying them - simple, it appears I can't get hold of one in the UK. All my searching so far leads me across the pond to the US - and I'm feeling creative. This way, I get exactly what I want.

Above is Gwen from Rowan Mag 39. I have completed the back, left front, one sleeve and half the right front. I'm worried. I have 2 and a bit balls left. I'm very worried. Gwen is for my sister who is teeny weeny. I'm going to drag her over for a fitting. I may be able to shorten the first sleeve and squeeze a little bit more yarn out of it for the second sleeve. And you may have guessed, I've used a discontinued yarn. I will also add that I had one more ball than the amount specified, so something is afoot. Part of me is continuing in the vain hope that the extra yarn I believe I need will just magic itself up from thin air and all will be right with the world. Did I say I was worried. More on Gwen when I've finished panicking!!