Can't you just see it?

I can just see some sweet little baby girl with chubby cheeks wearing this hat! I finished it last night for a baby shower this weekend. It is a pattern from Shopabcsoup.com called the Sweet Pea Hat. I am not thrilled with the tension because I had to adapt the pattern to a different yarn. Next time I will go down a needle size to make the gauge look nicer. But what a fun, easy piece to knit! Hopefully, I will get a picture of the recipient wearing it after she's born.

Lace Shawl

Here is a close up of the Shawl pattern after the blocking process. I was very pleased with the lace blockers and the exercise mat to block them on. For some reason I had a hard time getting a photograph of this project. It just wouldn't come out clear for me. Anyway, this gives you an idea, and really shows what a difference the blocking makes!

Block On!!!

After a good nights soak, I let the water out of the sink to start the blocking process. Even though this is burgundy, I was happy to see that there wasn't color in the water. I gathered up two beach towels and kept one of them pretty much folded up. I squished some water out in the sink by pushing on the shawl. I had read to absolutely NOT wring it out. I then lifted it with both hands and plopped it on the beach towel. I folded on section of the towel over it and stepped on it several times. This got rid of most of the water. The second towel I arranged the shawl on it jelly roll style. I rolled it up in to a small roll and stepped on that also. It actually felt almost dry and I worried I wouldn't get it on the blockers before it was dry. I had read about the exercise mats on Wendy Knits and thought it was a great portable idea for blocking. I ordered mine from Amazon.com . They don't take much storage space and you have the flexibility of making them whatever size you want. I have never used wire lace blockers before, so I'm not sure I did it right, but I wove the wires in and out on the edges and pinned them to the exercise mats. I will now let it sit overnight to dry. Weaving the wires was a bit tedious and I'm glad I had a table big enough to hold the mats otherwise I can see where one's back could really start hurting if it had to be done on the floor. So, hopefully tomorrow, I will have a nice photo of my finished shawl to post.

Shawl Blocking

I finished the shawl that I started a while back and wrote about on June 25th. This will be MY first time blocking a shawl with blocking wires, so I thought it might be helpful to photograph the process for others. Experienced blockers; PLEASE feel free to comment! So, here is the shawl before blocking. I have it soaking in water. I have read everything from overnight to 30 minutes, so since it is wool, I'll let it soak overnight. Tomorrow I will roll it carefully in towels to squeeze the water out and put it on the blocking wires. Stay tuned for part two tomorrow.