trying to cheer up my boyfriend-need opinions

[Daligal83]

My boyfriend has been stressed lately because he has two midterms this week, and a midterm and a lab practical next week, and still has to work part-time. Also he has a bad back and it really got bad over the weekend at work so it's been hard for him to concentrate with that pain. I want to cheer him up, so I've decided to send him a care package.

 

I had been planning for awhile to send him cookies and a scarf that I'm making him. He already wears a scarf I made for him years ago before we were dating, but it was just a plain stitch and all one color. This one is a basketweave stitch that I just learned and has 3 different colors that alternate, so it's harder than anything I've done and a lot nicer.

 

The problem is, I'm not done with the scarf, but I'm definitely sending him cookies. I could stay up tonight and finish it and send it out tomorrow (I already made the cookies). If I do though, the only problem is it curls around the edges and I need to iron it to fix it, but don't have an iron here. So I can either give him the imperfect scarf and iron it when we're home together in about a week, or just mail him the cookies and give him the scarf after I can go home and iron it. What do you guys think I should do?

 

Sorry I know this is not really important...but I just really want to put together something nice for him when he's stressed...especially since I can't actually be there for him.

[melrich]

Sorry I know this is not really important

 

LOL...it's important to you. What a lovely thing to think about doing.

 

I would mail him the cookies with a note and give him the scarf when it is finished and ironed.

[CarnelianButterfly]

Send the cookies tomorrow and keep the scarf until its ready. Then give it to him when you're together.

 

Are you knitting the scarf? Be careful with the heat on the iron some of the new fibers in yarn don't hold up too well. I'd steam it and not do direct contact with the iron and then block it. Do you know how to block a knit?

[Daligal83]

I am knitting the scarf. I looked it up online and it said to pin the scarf to an ironing board, take a dish cloth and make it damp, then put it on the scarf and steam it. Then it said to leave the scarf pinned until it's dry. Is that right? I've never actually done it. My yarn is a mixture of silk and wool, if that makes any difference. Thanks for the knitting help!

 

Since I can't send the scarf (my hands are starting to hurt from so much knitting anyway), I'm trying to think of other ideas to send with the cookies. One is that I had ordered pictures of us for another present that I didn't go through with, so I could run to Rite Aid tomorrow and get a little photo album and send that. Or I could pick up some candies and like a box of hot chocolate mix and put that in there. The box I have is kinda big, not very tall but long, so I don't want just cookies in there. It'll look so empty. Which do you guys think is a good idea, or put all of that in there?

 

I also have a great card to go with it...the front says "Without you, I'm...sad, cranky, sleepless, lonely, lost" (there are picture to go with each word) and then you open the card and it says "sex-deprived" and it has a picture of the character on it's back with stress lines above its head. Then "miss you!" at the bottom. I cracked up when I read it.

[Zaphod]

ahhhhhhhh scarf and cookies. That's gotta be the sweetest thing I've heard in ages. Aren't you a one?

[CarnelianButterfly]

Silk and wool can handle the heat That sounds like a good blocking scheme, I've seen sweaters pinned on the carpet when boards weren't big enough. Just be careful of the colors, it might bleed or pick up color off the cloth you use to dampen it.

 

You might wrap the cookies with tissue paper and some pretty ribbon, make them look like a little gift. Toss some candies in and put the card on top.

[Daligal83]

I hope he has the same reaction you guys are having I really want him to like it.

 

How do I keep the colors from bleeding? Should I stop at the place I bought them ask the woman that works there? I've been working on this thing for about a month and a half and I don't want it to get ruined haha.

[CarnelianButterfly]

Test a small sample of the yarns with the iron heat and water before you do the scarf. Really saturate them and give them heat. If they don't bleed, no worries, if they do, that's a going to be hard to fix. If the colors aren't fast you might need to get a Shout Color Catcher and rinse the scarf by hand in a sink.

 

By the way, with the wool you're going to get some degree of felting no matter what you do so don't be surprised if it shrinks.

[Daligal83]

What do you mean if the colors aren't fast?

 

I'm thinking I might just let it curl, he can uncurl it by hand when he puts it on haha. I could easily mess this up.

[soccer14]

You are a really caring and loving girlfriend. He's gotta be lucky

[Zaphod]

My ex bought me a car stereo for my birthday just one month after we got together - and she didn't have a lot of money.

I nearly wept. Some things are so sweet in this painful world that they are in themselves almost too much to bear.

I have a two year old neice atm who does things that make me feel like this.

[Zaphod]

BTW - I ought to move to America - it seems that cookies are a tried and tested way of showing affection over there I could hook up with some women and get loads of cookies out of it.

Anyone remember "Cookie monster"??? lol Sesame Street. That's me.

[Batya33]

I am with the others - cookies first, scarf later. And with the others on how thoughtful this is.

[CarnelianButterfly]

What do you mean if the colors aren't fast?

 

I'm thinking I might just let it curl, he can uncurl it by hand when he puts it on haha. I could easily mess this up.

Not fast = bleeds

 

Sorry, I'm into fiber arts and can get a little carried away with all the jargon.

 

My knits curl when I'm too tight on the tension. Basket weave is a fun stitch, I was working a scarf for my Mom in that, but got bogged down and end up doing a crochet ruffle (probably not a good thing for a guy).

[Zaphod]

image removed

[Daligal83]

1. Thank you all so much for saying I'm a good girlfriend You guys are so nice! I'm the lucky one though. He's an amazing boyfriend. I don't know how I didn't grab him when we first met.

 

2. Carnelian, thanks for all the tips. I want to learn the right language, so don't worry! I love the basketweave stitch, except that it's not the mindless knitting I'm used to. But I love making something that looks interesting. One of my goals after I graduate is to knit more complex things and learn more crafts, like wheel pottery.

 

3. Zaphod, that picture reminds me of this cookie monster poster I had in my room when I was really little...and it used to give me nightmares and I had to put it in my closet. I'm not a freak...I swear...haha