Pins and Needles*

The crochet cast-off is done, the new pins and extra strong Gutermann thread (my secret blocking weapon to ensure a straight top edge and centre line) have been bought and the Peacock Feathers shawl is currently stretched out damply** over three towels on my living room floor.



Note: this is not the final blocked shape, I stretched out that wonky bit on the left later on and rounded out all the feather ends.

The thing is huge, there was only just enough room for it and I didn't block particularly aggressively. I've no idea how it will look on, or with the dress, but in its in-blocking state it is gorgeous. Helen's Lace tends to look rather woolly in the ball and especially when knitting but as soon as you block it the silk content comes shining through.





It took a lot of pinning out - there are about 200 separate points to pin around the lower edge. It's a good thing I finished today as I don't think Mum would have been at all keen on my sticking 200 pins into her new carpet, even in the cause of my having the shawl ready for the wedding! I wasn't too finickety about measuring an even distance between points on each side, I just pinned each side roughly and then stretched it out until it looked fairly balanced. I can always reblock when I'm not on such a tight schedule. Now I just need to fire up the dehumidifier and cross my fingers that it's dried by tomorrow morning.

* Oh dear lord, blocking is hard on the knees!

** My other secret weapon is a bog standard plant mister from Boswells (font of all that is good) as I find that my dampened lace tends to have mostly dried by the time it's pinned neatly in place, especially if I forget to sew in the top and centre threads beforehand.