Calling all threadies,,,,,

[cshell]

Hi all,

 

I have crocheted myself into a dilemma and could use your help.

 

A little info first- This is to be a charity ornament for a members DS who is coming home from the army.

 

Now that this is done and it's time to finish it I am thinking of all of the things I should have thought about before I started. Any info, help or ideas you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

 

1) I have used red thread! Is the red going to bleed when I block this? I did some reading and could have laundered the thread first but it's a little late now. It's Aunt Lydias, maybe you have experience in blocking Aunt Lydias in red.

 

 

2) Any ideas on how to block some ripples into the flag? Paper towel roll?

 

Thanks for any help or experiences you can pass along-

 

[rshseaeagle]

Not sure how big this is - if you could post that it would help with the ripples portion of your question.

 

When you block this - Use COLD water and make sure to blot at much water as possible with a towel. You can always test a small corner of just the red with a bit of water and a white towel. That will tell you if it's going to bleed. The cold water and moving quickly to blot the excess should stop any bleeding into the white.

 

As far as the ripples go - If you want ripples you will need to use a stiffening agent of some sort. Since the red may bleed if you use warm water, either a store bought stiffener or glue and water mixture would probably be best.

 

You can use anything you want to make the ripples - it just depends on how large you want them. Cover anything you use with a plastic wrap so it doesn't stick. This is where the size question comes in, paper towel holders, wooden dowels, pencils, anything that is round and long enough will work.

 

Hope this helps!

[Granny Square]

I've blocked doilies using red and white using cold water, with no bleeding. Not sure about the heavy stiffners (if they would make it bleed); I usually just them for snowflakes, with no red. Maybe make a little red and white swatch and play around?

 

Awesome flag, BTW!

[AuntChar]

i just blocked some ornaments that had red, green and white thread using a fabric stiffener that is like white glue watered down a little bit..it wasn't aunt lydia's thread but the colors did not run. i didn't pre-wash them either.

[cshell]

Okay, I think I will give it a super cold rinse and blot and see what happens. I hope the stiffener works with super cold water.

 

I appreciate you three taking the time to post- I really have no idea what I'm doing but with your suggestions at least I have something to work with.

 

Thank you!

[Katchkan]

I have been told by the manufactures of Aunt Lydias thread to rinse the piece in warm. ( NOT HOT ) water until it runs clear. I did a runner a few years back in Aunt Lydia Red and white and green. It bled when I went to block it and had to redo the whole thing in three days as it was for a publication and I had a deadline. I called the manufacture and they told me how to prevent a repeat.

So I place mine in a bowl and set under the faucet and let the water warm water rinse until the water is clear.

I am very careful when I use any red as it is the worst color for bleeding.

Hope this helps

[cshell]

Well, I dipped it in cold water then blotted. Then I ran it under warm water for several minutes to thoroughly rinse it. The water ran clear the entire time, never did see any bleeding. So far so good. Now it needs to do its part and thoroughly dry.

 

Thank you all so much for your help. Since this is a gift I really wanted to do my best with this project.