Where to begin?

Meet my new blocking surface. I know, it's a little hard on the eyes, but it works. This is how it came to be.

Many years ago, when I actually knitted sweaters more often than I do now, I decided that I needed a sturdy blocking surface that could be put away easily when not in use, and that had a ready-made grid to makeit easy to pin pieces out straight and to the desired dimensions. I purchased a big bulletin board (3 ft x 4 ft), lots of brass thumbtacks, and covered the cork surface with red and white one inch gingham. Spritz lightly with water and the cotton fabric dries nice and taut. Perfect.

Fast forward several years... I no longer make many sweaters and the ones I do make tend to be done in the round rather than in pieces. The board languishes behind a door until Youngest Child asks if she can use it as a bulletin board because she doesn't have one and I won't let her stick stuff on her walls and she has nowhere to keep her Art and Other Important Stuff. Well, what could I say?

But having recently needed to block several small things, I decided that I should make another board. This decision happened to coincide with necessary Back to School shopping at the local business supply store where I found a smaller version (2 ft x 3 ft) of the same cork-covered board, and enameled thumbtacks in assorted colours. So far so good. But I needed fabric.

The closest place to buy fabric is W*lm*rt. I hate going there - too many people and the lines are always way too long. But sometime last week I made the much-put-off trip to W*lm*rt and bought the miscellaneous things that I can only find there (XL Ziploc bags and 7 watt nightlight bulbs) and the remains of a bolt of fabric called "Racing Flag". The checks are 1 cm square. There were some other less vision-warping checked fabrics, but this one seemed to have crisper delineation of the squares. And it was child-approved as "cool". Apparently green and tan is "not cool". You've been warned.

One evening of cutting (how easy can it get!), folding, ironing, mitering, ironing, and thumbtacking in place, and there you have it.

I know, it hurts. And you're right - the washcloth isn't quite straight on the sides. It was fine when it was lying flat but I stood it up to take the picture. And now, because you are a true blog-reading hero and probably clicked on that last one and even looked at it up close, here is something easier on the eyes.

Lipstick Plant

More about that tomorrow.