It was easy to keep the craft room pile free while I was off work, but now I'm back at work things do get dumped in piles more often.
The room was looking a bit chaotic but I spontaenously started cleaning it up one morning without stopping to take a picture, sigh dramatically or whine about it. I know, I don't know what got into me either.
So how's it looking now?
It's a bit of a disaster. Mostly the table, which no longer has any space to work on. The shelves at the back are covered in yarn cones too, but that's strategic clutter to get me to actually do some weaving. If I want those cones of yarn to go away and I need to actually make the warps I have already planned for that yarn. The irritation of the clutter here is the grit that starts the formation of a pearl.
At least, that's what I'm telling myself.
So I tidied up and almost everything had a home to go to. There was only one project that was sitting there waiting for me to do something. So I did it.
This is the Cerce Hat by Chit Chat Knits. It's an interesting little pattern. The brim is knit back and forth in a long strip and then joined together to make a circle. You then pick up stitches along one edge and knit a backing for the brim, then join to the other edge and knit the rest of the beanie, making a double thick fabric for the brim.
In the photo above I've picked up stitches and just started knitting the backing. The pattern recommends steam blocking the patterned brim before finishing the backing so that you get the backing and brim the same size. Because the brim is a fancy cable pattern it's pretty smooshed up (that's the technical term) when you knit it and will relax a lot when you block it.
So, time for steam blocking!
I bought this curtain steamer on cleaarance from Spotlight after Christmas. It's basically an iron without the hot plate. You fill it with water, turn it on, let it heat up, and then it releases steam when you push a button.
Honestly, it's pretty awful. I wouldn't recommend it. But it was super cheap and I had a gift card so whatever. It's small enough that I can stuff it in a cupboard for storage and it's less hassle than getting the iron and ironing board out.
I've gotta say, I was a bit impressed at how it blocked out this wool/silk yarn.
Here's the brim all blocked out. I held it up to the steam for a few seconds and then gave it a tug to open up the cables. Once I steamed the whole brim I set it down to cool. It's kept it shape really nicely and I'm confident that I can knit the backing and attach it without distoring the brim or making it all bunched up.
And now this project can go back in its bag and back onto the WIP (work in progress) trolley. And I get a clean(ish) craft desk again.