FO Friday: Indian Feathers Shawlette

I'm in Spokane at the Region 13 Sweet Adelines Convention, and my group doesn't take the stage until tomorrow.  It's a really... interesting experience.  Lots of glitter everywhere.  But that's not what you're reading this for.  You want to know what I've made!

Last week, I finished a shawlette that's been sitting in a sad little bag, waiting for someone to block it and let its true colors shine through.  This small shawl / large scarf is based off the Indian Feathers pattern by Alina Appasov.  The pattern included an option for either knupps (a complicated little detail that can be really tough on your hands and requires extra yarn) or beads.  It wasn't even really a choice for me; I will always choose beads.  I used less than a skein of Silky Alpaca Lace by Classic Elite Yarns and 175 beads of different shades.  Here's what it looked like before blocking:

Kind of sad, right?  But watch is it gloriously unfolds after a 20 minute soak and some quick pinning.

Mmmm, that's good blocking!  And check out the drape on this beauty:

So, you can't really see the beads, and the top of the stockinette area curls (as stockinette will do), but I really love the subtle variegation in the red yarn, the halo from the alpaca, and the way the ends turn into a lovely ruffle when it's not pulled tight.

FO Friday: Blocking Is a Lot Like Finishing

I found a shawl in my crafting closet this week that was mostly finished.  It only needed a good blocking and to have the ends woven in.  But it had been waiting for those last couple of steps so long that I forgot I'd even knit it!  Seriously, I remember enjoying the pattern while I made it, and I remember looking forward to wearing it for something, but I can't remember when I actually knit it.

So I put it in a cold Eucalan soak, dried it a bit by rolling it in a towel, then pinned it out to finish:

This is the Myrskylintu shawl, and the yarn is KnitPicks Gloss Fingering in colorway Winter Night.  The yarn was actually gifted to me by a stranger in a superhero-themed swap (my favorite super hero is Superman, and this is for his cape).  Check out the detail on this baby:

After I put that shawl away and while I had the blocking boards out, I went ahead and blocked a shawl that I finished more recently while I was in San Francisco.  This is the Sewanee shawl in madelinetosh tosh merino light.  To give you an idea of what blocking can do for your knitting, here's a before picture:

The picture is a little blurry, but you get the idea.  The edges are horribly curled and messy, the lace is closed up, and the overall shawl is a bad shape.  You can't tell from that picture, but the stitches are also misaligned or malformed because it was knit on square needles rather than round ones.  Here's what blocking did for it:

Now, you can see the true shape of the shawl, a heart.  You can see all the lace and the edges have those sharp points.  Everything is opened up, the sides are no longer curling, and each stitch is aligned properly for a smooth finish.  It also grew so that it's a proper shawl size, whereas before blocking it couldn't fit around my shoulders.  

This took me twenty minutes to set up, and half a night to dry.  It is so worth your time to block, knitters.  Just do it.