Finally blocked my Northern Lights shawl

[rivenwanderer]

I actually finished this shawl (made with this pattern) almost two months ago, but was procrastinating about blocking it for some reason. When my housemate finished hers, we had a "block party" and cleared out the upstairs dining room to pin our shawls. I'm so happy with how it looks post-blocking! I pinned extra points in the middle of the chevrons in order to create this curly-brace-like shape, and I'm glad I did--I hope they stick around over time. I'm not wearing it right now because it was still a little damp when I took it off of the mats (that's OK, right?) and it's currently draped over a chair to dry the rest of the way.



Here's how the drape of the fabric is looking now


On the blocking mats--you can see how I pinned it


Me holding it up before blocking, you can see that the fabric is much bumpier



This was the first project I blocked by pinning, and I'm totally a convert. It was also the first semi-complex pattern that I followed (and expanded upon--I added 2 extra repeats).

ETA two notes: first, the color is most accurately shown in the last image--the lighting was very blue this morning (I blame the rain). The yarn is two discontinued colorways of Noro Silk Garden Lite (2013 and 2021, purchased on sale from Webs). Second, I made lots of mistakes while working on this, and I'm really glad they're not apparent in the final product. (Lots of cases of "oh, I need to do an extra decrease/increase this row so that the count is correct".) I especially recommend the pattern for that reason.

ETA2: As I wore the shawl last night, the secondary points mostly retreated, though some of the bands of color near them are still nice and curvy.

Comments

[anatsuno]

I love this pattern so much! yours is WONDERFUL, and the curly-brackets effect of your pinning is super cute! :)

[sedge]

Beautiful!

[carynb]

That's lovely! It's looks very snuggly. *g*

[grey853]

Very nicely done. It looks great!

[feywood]

Absolutely gorgeous.

[aedifica]

Oh, that's lovely! How did you block before you used pins? Wires or string, or something else?

[rivenwanderer]

I've done the thing where you just wet it and lay it flat on a towel, but never with very much stretching.

[aedifica]

Oh! I've done that with some of my knitting but never thought of it as blocking. I guess I have done some blocking already, then!

[girlpearl]

Ooh, that's lovely!

[ames]

very very nice! And you have very shiny hair!

[rivenwanderer]

Thanks! :D

[laughingrat]

That is SO pretty, and now I'm reminded I was gonna turn that Noro sock yarn into a NL shawl...

[firecat]

I love that pattern. Great job!

[iamshadow]

That is utterly gorgeous. I must admit, I'm tempted by shawls, but I have absolutely no idea as to where I'd be able to block an item of clothing that large in my tiny, tiny house.

[aunty_marion]

I set my blocking mats up on my bed, which is a 4-foot one, so they just about go edge-to-edge on it. And I start the blocking in the morning when possible, so the item has most of the day to dry, and I can simply lift the mats off as a unit and stand them half into the Knitronomicorner overnight. I *certainly* don't have floor space for anything bigger than a hat or sock!

[aunty_marion]

That's very nice indeed, and I do like the extra 'bracket' points in the blocking! Have now queued that pattern myself (though I won't use Noro, I can't take the feel of it on my skin), for future consideration, and if I *do* make it, I'll try and remember to do the same points in the blocking - I really think it improves the finished item!

[rivenwanderer]

Thanks! As I wore the shawl last night, the secondary points mostly retreated, though some of the bands of color near them are still nice and curvy.

[willidan]

That's beautiful! Yay for you!

[minxy]

Oh, man, what gorgeous colors.

[geeksdoitbetter]

great work!

i really like your extra points

for me, i try not to remove anything before it's completely dry. theory being that "drying while pinned" is blocking, so if i remove it early, it might dry into a diff shape?