I’m re-crocheting a poncho with a border of pansies, using Plain & Fancy Sheep & Wool Company’s yarn. It stretched a lot when I blocked it the first time. I didn’t like the finished garment. I redesigned it. The second time around, it required more yarn. The unraveled yarn was already blocked, so I figured I would have to stretch the new yarn before using it.
Wool Winder commented on an earlier post about the poncho, “I have no idea how you are going to stretch the yarn before you crochet with it. This should be interesting, indeed.”
Yes, interesting indeed, because I had now idea how I was going to stretch the yarn, either.
After much procrastination, I decided to get on with it. Today was the day. I thought, ‘Okay, since the original yarn was steam-blocked while it was still crocheted, I should probably steam block the new yarn.’ I dampened the hanks and steamed them with my iron. So far so good.
But how would I stretch it out and keep it stretched long enough to dry? I put away the iron and collapsed the ironing board. Then I blinked. I pulled the ironing board back up. And collapsed it again. Hmmm!
I up-ended the ironing board, looped the yarn around the foot and the ironing surface. The moment of reckoning was upon us (me and the yarn, you know). Would the yarn stretch far enough to allow the ironing board to “catch” and hold?
It did! You can see the yarn stretching contraption in the photo above.
Progress so far: pansy trim finished except for darning in some ends; three rounds of poncho complete. It’s a start!