Friday, May 25, 2007

As if by magic

By the magic of blocking, I give you the transformation from


The scrunched up ugly duckling
to...



The beautiful swan
The Forest Canopy Shawl
in Opal Magic on 4mm needles

Well, something like that anyway - and to think I never even considered blocking for the first 30 years of my knitting life!

When it came off the needles it was a mere 27" across and 13" top to point - blocking made it grow to 43" wide by 21", which whilst not large by any means, is just what I wanted as it will be used as a glorified scarf rather than a shawl as such - though it can be pressed into action if they don`t soon get the &*££$%? air conditioning sorted at work.

I really enjoyed making it, and can imagine that this won`t be the last time the pattern is used. Knowing how well it works I may just invest in something rather more cheerful (and expensive) next time. I thought the tip for writing each row out on an index card and then punching holes in the top corner, joining them with metal ring binders so you can flip the card just used to the back of the stack as you complete each row, was just brilliant and definitely a trick to use again.

Right, off to wade through my stash and pattern hoard to see what is next ("ahem", whispers the conscience, "have you forgetten Thermal?") Erm, yes conveniently I do seem to have.


8 comments:

Seahorse said...

Gorgeous! I'd never even heard of blocking until I discovered the 'knit-net', so you're not alone! Lol!

Sarah said...

Ooh, it's a beauty. Congrats. And the tip about the index cards is the best I've heard - so simple and I imagine it works brilliantly.

Rain said...

I'nt blocking brilliant!

It looks gorgeous.

Linda said...

It is so lovely, blocking is my favourite part of lace knitting!

MandellaUK said...

What a beautiful shawl. Congratulations!

Hellbelle said...

Ooh pretty! The varigated yarn is really effective.

The index card tip is certainly a good one.

Craftydramaqueen said...

The shawl is gorgeous. Blocking definitely is magic!

acrylik said...

Wow, stunning! I love the Opal yarn, definitely a thought for my attempt at this shawl. Thanks for the tip, too.