Blocking Day

When I learned to knit, I dreamt about making sweaters, socks, scarves, hats, and cute little stuffed toys. I have managed most of those, but not cute little toys. But when I learned, no one ever told me about blocking. Blocking robs all the joy of knitting from the universe. It's a harsh, cold, thankless task. But if goods don't get blocked, they don't always look their best. (Don't I sound like Little Mary Sunshine?)

So today is blocking day! I managed to block six of my projects (and then I ran out of pins). Four Honey Cowls and two Irish Hiking Scarves! My friend Huw invited me over, and I've been rinsing things out and rolling them in towels all afternoon. There are three more things to block, but we've run short on pins.

Here are four of the Honey Cowls drying on the rack. They expanded! When I finished them, they were too short to double over, but they stretched! They are, front to back, left to right, Betty Draper's Blues, Burnished, Heuchera, and Cove.

I also blocked two of the Irish Hiking Scarves, in Tosh and Malabrigo. You can't really see it in the pictures, but the Malabrigo colour is much richer than the Tosh.

I've never blocked without guidelines before, so I'm hoping these don't scallop when unpinned.

I still have one more Hiking Scarf to block, and a feather and fan scarf. On the needles, currently, are a Honey Cowl and a feather and fan scarf. I hope to have them both finished before the Thanksgiving holiday. All I can hear in my mind's ear is, "Knit faster, I hear banjos!"