Ain't No Party Like a Block Party

I am no fan of blocking. But when you've worked on a piece of lace (on and off) for over a year, it's imperative that you wet block it.

This is the Radiance Shawl by Helen Stewart, knit in Davidson Domy Heather.  The colorway is called Columbine, and it's a heathery grayish lavender.

The Domy Heather is a super affordable yarn sold at Old Mill Yarn in Eaton Rapids.  I think when I purchased these skeins a couple of years ago, it was selling for $8.00.  There are 475 yards per skein, and there are some really gorgeous colorways.  I don't know how available this yarn is outside of Michigan, but if you can get your hands on some, it makes a great shawl.  The yarn is listed as a fingering weight, but I would classify it as a light fingering.  It worked fine in this pattern, which calls for a lace weight yarn.

I love the way the picot bind-off looks, although let me tell you, that took some stamina.  There are 760 stitches on the needles, and to create those little points, you cast on two stitches, then bind off five, and so on and so forth.  Definitely cannot be done in one sitting.  It took me four or five days to do the bind off.

The photo above shows my first attempt at blocking.  I pinned it along the bottom edge of the last garter section, which failed to open the bottom lattice section.  I also had little scallops along the top edge of the shawl.  I added pins to the top to straighten the edge, and I re-pinned the bottom.  Rather than take the shawl off the mats to wet it again, I dampened it with a spray bottle.

A bit better, don't you think?

So, non-sock project off the needles.  That means I get to cast on.

Andi of My Sister's Knitter is hosting a sock yarn knit- and crochet-along over in her Ravelry group.  When I posted on Tuesday, I had mentioned that I was going to use this Plucky Knitter Silk Merino Handpainted Fingering to make a Fino Circle Scarf.

Almost as soon as I put that blog post to bed, a feeling of unease came over me.  So. Much. Stockinette.  There is mindless knitting, and then there is mind-numbing knitting, and an infinity scarf of nothing but stockinette in a solid colorway falls in the mind-numbing category.  After a few more patterns chosen and discarded, I have finally settled on Martina Behm's Brickless. 

The pattern calls for 540-560 yards of a worsted weight yarn, but as it turns out, there are more Bricklesses made of fingering weight than worsted weight in Ravelry.  (Which just goes to show you the power of sock yarn.)  I've got 700 yards of this yarn, so I think it will turn out nice and big.  I've completed three points so far.  Look—another shawl with different textures, some of which are lace.  Looks like I'll be having another block party in a few weeks!