Blocking my Ravellenic Shawl.

So I mentioned in my Ravellenic Gold Post - Blocking is what you have to do to lace to make it pretty.  Yeah that was a terrible description.  Basically when you knit lace - anything with lots of holes made by yarn overs - you end up with a big fat mess:

So you soak it in water:

 Lay it flat, and pin the ever living crap out of it:

And when you un pin it the shawl will hold it's shape.  So you go from this:

To this:



 Yeah.  Or another close up view.  Here's an edge before blocking:



And on the blocking wires:



I actually messed up the blocking this time.  I had never blocked a crescent shaped shawl before so the first time I attempted it I did this:

Which resulted in a really wonkily shaped shawl.  Should have been obvious to me as soon as I pinned it down.  The knitting will take whatever shape you force it too.  Anyways I had to redo it:



Which resulted in pretty.  Lots of pretty.



I wrote out a whole How To Block a Lace Shawl tutorial when I blocked Adamas:

For tons of great Before/After pictures check out my Shetland Triangle Shawl Post:



For a description of how to block a circular shawl (hint:  INSANITY) check out my Cherry Blossom Shawl Block Party:

For blocking a Lace Hat there's my Ireland for St. Pats Hat (hint:  use a plate):

And finally for a more recent example of a couple of Sock Yarn Shawls you can check out my Citizen Shawl and Girl Scout Camp Post:

Yay for Blocking!!!