The blocking queen

I finally finished edging the neck and armholes of Delphine yesterday. It was such a bitch picking up all those stitches! Plus – on the armholes I had to single crochet around the whole thing and then pick up the stitches. Ick! Nevertheless, it looks very cute. I wonder why the pattern doesn’t have you start off with a picot cast on, since all the edging is picot. If I had been a good little knitter and read ahead I could have realized that before I started knitting and made the adjustment.
Speaking of being a good little knitter, I should have frogged this damn thing the second I realized it was too tight across the belly! I’ve already blocked it twice throughout this process, hoping it will stretch without too much luck. Right now she is blocking again. I completely saturated her in water and wet blocked- I’ve got her stretched out as far as humanly possible – 15 inches. (Compare to the shaping the last time she was on the board). If this doesn’t do it – I think I’m just going to have to lose 5 pounds. lol.
Despite all the aforementioned headaches my dear Delphine has given me, this is really a gorgeous top! I’m already thinking about knitting another one (perfect this time). I’ve got some glitzy yarn in my stash that I think would be darling…