Finito Benito

The knitting was finished on Wednesday. The blocking was yet to come. I always look forward to the blocking. This is when the crumpled mass/mess of mountains of shrivelled yarn is transformed into the beauty, the glory, the delight that is lace.

The problem is that I need to do blocking on #1 daughter's bedroom floor, as it's the biggest space in the house. The problem is that #1 daughter tends to want to hang out in her bedroom and trample all over said floor, with her great size 9s. (Are kids like puppies - you look at the paws/feet and it gives you the clue as to how big they are going to end up? I think I gave birth to a Great Dane.) So I had to wait until Friday, when #1 daughter was off staying with Not-a-Barbie Auntie (who doesn't like to be calle "Auntie", so let's hope she's not reading this.)

I looked at the finished shawl, I looked at the available space and it came to my attention that maybe, just maybe, I didn't actually have enough room to block the Statue of Liberty's shawl. I thought about doing some alterations in the house - you know, knocking down a few internal walls, making things a bit more "open-plan"; I thought about renting out the village hall for a weekend - that's quite a big room, it might be big enough; I thought about ringing the sports centre and asking about "borrowing" a tennis court, or something. I really did think that the blocked size of this shawl was going to be bigger than the whole "footprint" of my house. Ann-at-work, on seeing the unblocked version, said, "It's going to be big. It's going to be so big that we'll be able to wrap you in it, like you wrap a baby - round the head, cross over the chest and bring the corner up over the feet. Then we'll be able to prop you in a corner." I was starting to think that she might be right.

I had to move everything in the room (apart from the bed) but I did manage to fit the thing in:



I must say that the colours seemed to come up beautifully when I washed her. I usually use shampoo with conditioner, soak for about twenty minutes, rinse, squeeze out gently, wrap in a towel and walk about on it. However, this time, I was a bit pressed for time, so I thought I would spin the thing in the washing machine. It worked a treat. I'd already threaded the fishing line through each of the points and while I don't normally cut the line but just leave it attached to the reel, I didn't think a reel of fishing line clattering round in the washer would do it much good, so I cut it and tied it and hoped for the best.

This was one of the easiest shawls I have ever blocked. I used the cotton bedspread with the handy squares on it, which you can see in the picture above. One pin in each point, one pin in each corner, count the squares between points, slight adjustments, done.

She is 62 inches square - that's five foot two inches - that's my height. So yes, Ann, you will be able to wrap me in the shawl and prop me in a corner. But can I wear it a little bit first?



Apologies for the dark picture. It was hurriedly taken by #1 daughter before she went to school this morning and it was a tad dark. It's brighter now but there is no-one in the house but me.



Wrapped round me.

Here she is on the line:



Vital Statistics

Rosy Fingered Dawn. Pattern: Hazel Carter
Yarn: Blackberry Ridge Lace Weight
Needles :4mm dpns, then circular.
Started: 8 July 05
Finished knitting: 12 Oct 05
Blocked: 16 Oct 05
Size: 62 inches square.
Weight: 267g
Verdict: Great fun to knit. No mistakes in the pattern as far as I could tell. Yarn slightly fragile and thicker than what I would call lace-weight.

This is how it all started:



Can't believe it, really, can you?