TL;DR Do you expect stockinette in a silk/mohair blend (Tilia by Filcolana) to grow longer after blocking?
The complete story
Do you remember my fluffy WIP of doom? It was nearly finished before the holidays. But I ran out of yarn, with no hope of getting my hands on more of the same. Filcolana has apparently changed suppliers or something and the new lots look completely different nowadays (much more muted colours - I'm really happy I have the older version).
Anyway, I was absolutely devastated. So I took pictures of the sweater to show you, thinking I might take away some of the body length in order to finish the sleeves. Seeing the pics, however, I think I'm not mad at the proportions as they are.
Side note: Thank all the gods of knitting for TAAT, otherwise I'd have one sleeve and a half.
OK, now time for a confession: When I started this project, I didn't block my swatch. So I don't know how the proportions will change after blocking/wearing etc. I'm afraid that the sleeves will grow longer, ending up like too-short-full-length-sleeves instead of 3/4. In which case I should unravel a bit of the sleeves before doing the I-cord edge.
What do you think?
Right. Step 1, don't panic!
I can't stand mohair, even the thought of it makes me itchy, so unfortunately I can't help with first-hand experience. Hopefully someone else can. But a couple thoughts:
If you do block it, and the sleeves grow too much, is the yarn impossible the frog back to the right length? I know mohair is a bit of a nightmare but probably depends on the silk content so just thought I'd ask. This would be annoying to have to do, but too-long sleeves is a lot more salvageable than too-short (and yes omg, so lucky you decided to TAAT!)
Does it actually need to be blocked? It looks fantastic in the photos, but I appreciate it might look messier to you in real life. Maybe worth considering though, if you're happy with it as-is then is blocking worth the risk?
One thing you could try is what I always think of as a "light blocking" where you pin it out and spray with water, just sort of pulling and patting things into shape. Rather than a full-on soaking wet block.
You've probably thought of all these things yourself but just putting it out there while we wait for an actual expert to come along lol.
Thank you so much for saying it out loud! I did wonder about potential consequences of not-blocking - I like that it's kind of bouncy in its current state. However, it will have to be washed at some point, so I figured it's better to find out now... Tension-wise, it's a little messy (two years on the needles) but it's also hairy so it's not super obvious. Mostly, I'd like to soak it to wash away the project-of-doom vibes and initiate it as a garment.