August 20, 2005
Blocking Kiri
I finished Kiri this morning. Started binding off last night and ran out of the second skein of Alpaca Cloud about 100 stitches in. Arrgh. So I oh-so-carefully opened up the third skein (I got four of them because I was paranoid about having enough) and gently teased out the 6 extra yards necessary to finish off the shawl. Then I twisted it back together and put it away. The fact that the ends are dangling loose is my reminder that I used part of this skein. Ah well.
The cats watched the blocking process curiously (and as you can see in the picture, Rosemary has decided to keep a close eye on it), but otherwise have left it alone - so far. I'm not stupid enough to tempt fate too far, however, so when we leave today the room where Kiri is drying will be cleared of cats and then have both doors shut, just in case.
This is the first time I've used my new 'blocking squares (aka those interlocking rubber squares you can buy for kids rooms, or to go under exercise equipment) and they work great. The only reason I'm using the blanket over the squares is because I didn't want my shawl to *smell* like the blocking mats.
I draped it around my shoulders and it's plenty wide enough pre-blocking, so I didn't focus so much on width during blocking as I did on length. Still don't know what I am going to do with this once it's dry, but there's a tea I'm going to in September, so maybe I can wear it then. Hmm.
In the meantime, I'm about halfway through the foot of the second Sockapal2za socks, and I did break down and start on the next afghan. I'm using the Harlot's baby blanket as a jumping off point, but made a number of modifications because, well, that's just the way I am. The colors are bright, hot pink, purple, and a gorgeous shade of periwinkle, and with the way the pattern creates alternating squares of eyelet waffles, I have decided that henceforth, this afghan shall be known as Hot Waffles. Easier to refer to than 'that pink waffle pattern thing I'm working on currently', right?