Alert! Alert! T-pin Shortage Ahead

So, I brought two partially finished sweaters, plus one unstarted and the yarn for a lacy shoulder shawl with me to California, but neglected to bring a stash of T-pins for blocking.

Today while in the city/larger town where I took my mom to catch her train, I checked a handy Michael's for more. They had only quilter's T-pins. I don't trust non-knitting-intended pins to handle wet blocking without tarnishing all over my work.

No problem. My small town here actually has a more than decent LYS for its size. I swung in about 30 minutes before closing. Alas, no T-pins in stock. Apparently, they have trouble keeping up with demand between orders.

They did, however, have blocking wires, with a small packet of T-pins included. I know even with the wires, which I definitely need, I won't have as many pins as I like to use. What you see is all of the T-pins I have currently.

What you also see is all I got done of the hemming on my sleeves. Spousal Unit didn't do so well with two days in a row of getting up much earlier than usual combined with a day of getting in and out of the car while we took advantage of the trip to run some errands and get a few presents. I drove both ways and only managed to set up my first hem and get about half a dozen stitches in while waiting for my mother's train to arrive.

Sunday evening the guest bed where I usually block here will hold coats and purses for the guests at my sister's fiftieth birthday party. Do I finish the hemming by tomorrow morning and count on the sweater drying in 24 hours? Or do I get the house cleaning and party prep done first and block the sweater after the party? Right.

Comments

[ashpags]

Obviously the sweater is *way* more important than the party! ;)

I had a hard time finding t-pins too. I'm hoping to get some blocking wires sometime soon...I probably should start looking now! =)

[RobinH]

If you wanted to have a dry bed and still block, a sheet of foam insulation (available reasonably inexpensively from the hardware store) with a spare sheet over it makes a stiff, pin-puncturable backing for blocking.

Of course then there's always the fun of where to put it. Performance art, that's what it is...