[knitting] Kiri

I finally got around to blocking my Kiri Shawl for the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival. If you perform a Google Image Search on the words "blocked shawl" (or any variations on those words), you'll see most have pointy, sharp edges. This is a look I don't find particularly pleasing. It seems so sharp and abrasive. I consider shawls (and most knitting) to be something to cuddle and snuggle into- not take your eye out.

But that's just me. Everyone's different.

Anyway, I wanted to block my shawl to have a nice, rounded, scalloped edge. Here it is with the left side pin-scalloped and the right side pin-pointed:



Here are two close-ups (scalloped vs. pointed):

 

How did I do it? Well, first I pinned the more solidly knit parts to the edge, as opposed to the yarn over areas. I would poke in the pin about 3/8 inch in from the shawl cast off edge and then poke it back out at the edge, then pin to the mattress:


In


Out


Secure to mattress

Voila. Here you see two points on the left needing to be re-pinned and two on the right showing off a nice scalloped edge:



And all blocked:



So all the pattern specs (which I don't think I've ever actually typed out for anything) are:

Pattern: Kiri
Yarn: Alpaca Light in Teal (almost 4 balls), by A Touch of Twist (I love this yarn.)
Needles: Clover Bamboo, Size US 4

Some blocking notes: I did end up using a little bit of the Yarn Harlot's Walk Around the Block method. I strung some string through the top straight edge. The rest I just pinned and adjusted and re-pinned to the point of "Ah, fuck it. It's good enough."

Also, I think this pattern's tendancy IS to have the yarnover wedges pinned. The scallops, which were nice at first, have eased back somewhat into the shawl, creating a straighter (less scalloped!) edge. Which still isn't as bad as the scary "you'll poke your eyes out" points.