Blocking

I had some issues with my Sonoma Shawl, which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. The Paca-Paints Alpaca yarn was unbelievable to work with, but I noticed that the shawl was coming out smaller than I had hoped. I emailed Oat Couture, the company that wrote the pattern, and they very kindly and quickly responded, with the suggestion to increase my needle size gradually from a 6 (the size I chose based on making gauge--that was probably my first mistake, as a shawl gauge doesn't have to be that literal) to a 9. I did that, and also added additional straight rows in between the gradual increase rows.

I also realized that the pattern called for a shawl that was only 15 inches long, while I was envisioning something longer and flowing. I've now finished and love the end result; the shawl is resting comfortably on the blocking board, where I feel confident I can coax it to about 19 inches, particularly since the bottom is lace, and I've pinned each point just like a regular lace shawl. More to come once this baby is blocked.

I'm about to head off to my knitting group, which had suspended activity over the summer. I'm so excited to see my knitting buddies! I will start "The Clutch You'll Never Give Up," from the Interweave One Skein book. I'll be using some very cool Colinette Point Five in the Venezia Colorway (a deep blue/green/purple mix), with some navy chunky wool reserved if I need more than the "one skein!" Pictures and more to come.

It's COLD here in the Northeast today--the Einstein Coat and my Embossed Leaves socks will make their debut!