How to block Dorothy

     Dorothy might be a bit of a problem when it comes to blocking, so I decided to write a tutorial showing the most important steps.  This is a very image heavy post, so I decided to go with smaller pics here.  The photos are all linked to my Flickr, so if you need to see more details, just click on them.

   


     First of all, we need a flat, "pin-able" surface, a bunch of pins and a spray bottle.  Since I knit from a cone, I soaked the shawl in very hot water with some shampoo in it (to take the sizing off the yarn) over night.  I then put Dorothy through the spin cycle of my washer to take the excess water out and placed it over my surface in the approximate shape it would have after blocked:

SSS

This is the Summer Stonington Shawl which I designed sometime around May/June of last year.

I was asked to review my Summer Leaves design. Problem was, I don't usually care for knitting the same pattern more than once. I began knitting it and then I decided I'd just keep on doing it and try some new (to me) ideas while knitting it.

I will, eventually, gather all my notes and posts about this shawl and publish it as one file. For now, if you want to knit it and have access to Ravelry, I created a series of posts, with charts, schematics and answered a few questions here.

Now, those are old news and you might be wondering why I'm talking about it now. Well, this shawl was made from my handspun. I bought some merino/silk roving, dyed it and then spun.
I spun short draw, so the yarn is a true worsted one (not as in worsted weight), yet, by the time I was knitting the border I began to see piling. I wasn't happy with my discovery, but was getting closer to finishing and had people waiting for it, so I kept on going.
The second disappointment with the shawl came a few weeks after the knitting was done. I took it with me in a week long trip and when we came back, the blocking job was all but gone.
I give away almost 99% of everything I knit, this shawl is one of the few exceptions. I kept it because it's too small for almost anyone else, there are huge design flaws in it and I wasn't really pleased with the dye job, how the colors came out, how the yarn behaved...What can I say? I'm a perfectionist.

Anyway, I kept the shawl and even though I love to block (yeah, I'm crazy), never bother to try it again on this one, because I thought it wouldn't hold the blocking - maybe because merino fibers have too much crimp.
The other day I was really bored and looking for something to do so I wouldn't have to do the things I needed to do ;). I finally picked up the SSS, washed it and blocked it again.
I usually block something and let it sit pinned down from one day to the next. This time, though, I kept it on the blocking board for almost a week. I just took the pins out and have a feeling this time the blocking will hold. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.