Thursday, March 18, 2010

Help Wanted!

I have been wanting to make up some squares for the SIBOL project for awhile now. I was so happy when the sunny squares idea came up, as bright sunny colors like yellow and orange are my favorites. Here are my first two attempts:
I was happy with them until I started measuring and found out that they were a bit over 6 inches at their widest point:

This is where I need your help.... is this normal? I did go back and measure them at the top and the bottom and they are 6 inches exactly there. The problem is they are just a bit wider in the middle. I've not made many squares, so I'm not sure if this is typical or not. I don't want to send Sue some squares that she won't be able to use. Any help or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated!!

5 comments:

  1. My advice is to use a one-size smaller hook and then block your squares to six inches when you're finished.

    This should make the widest part more narrow, and the tops and bottoms will be stretched some with blocking.

    To block: Just wet your blocks and squeeze out as much water as you can without wringing it and stretching the yarn. Then pin them to your ironing board to measure 6 inches. Let them dry completely, and you should be good to go.

    Instead of drenching them with water, I use a spray bottle of water and just spray mine so I can control how much water gets on them. I also add a little fabric softener mixed in the water (A couple of tsps in about 12 ounces of water) when using Red Heart yarn to make them soft and smell good.

    Let me know if you do this and how it works for you! Good luck!

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  2. Thanks ladies! I used an E hook for the orange/yellow one, thinking that would help! What I might do is frog the very last row (it's just SC) and then it should be the right size. Don't know what I am doing wrong. Maybe it's my yarn... I'm using Caron Simply Soft. Maybe I'll try another one with Red Heart SS and see what happens.

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  3. Sandy, Hi!
    Its' Sue here.
    I'm pleased I've popped over.
    Please dont worry about the Squares.
    To be honest I'm having all shapes and sizes
    although I have requested 6". Some are 4" I'm
    adapting them, so please dont worry. I wouldn't want you to 'frog' them if you aren't happy. They are so pretty. We all get better as we go along. The colours are superb too for the 'sun' challenge.
    Hugs to you and thanks Suex

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  4. Thank you so much Sue... I feel so much better! I did frog only one round of the one and it is now 6". I tried using a different yarn and that one came out much better (will post a pic once it is done being blocked), so I think part of the problem was the yarn. Thanks again everyone for your help, it is much appreciated :)

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