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.
