It's 5am, do you know where you're blocking pins are?

There was one over achiever bird that started chirping at 4:30 am, seriously? It couldn't wait an hour? It's times like these I think I might like the Angry Birds game. I could pretend it's my little buddy outside my window.

Anyway, I took the opportunity to block my Summer Mystery Shawlette by Wendy D. Johnson. The last installment came out last Thursday as promised and I finished it straight away. I had a fairly sizable amount of yarn left, so I was curious approximately how much I used. In the preliminary instructions Wendy said you needed 350-400 yards. I wanted to be safe so I went with a 400 yard skein.

Here's the math:
Initial weight of skein= 119g ~ 400 yards
Final weight of skein= 25g
I used approximately 80% of the skein, so (approx.) 316 yards.
The pre-blocked size had a wingspan of 30" and a center length of 16.5". Now we soak and weight. (Talk amongst yourselves.)

..............................................
Remember how all along I've been concerned about the size of the shawlette?

The blocked shawl has a wingspan of 54" and a center length of 23.5". Cool huh! For years I hated (well, that's a strong word - didn't care for) lace because it didn't look like anything until you blocked it. I didn't care for "the wait and see until it's blocked aspect". Maturity? Age? Broadened my horizons? Who knows. It actually makes me look forward to blocking it. Ok, that may be a bit much, however it is wicked early and I've only had one cup of coffee so far.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery kal. In a stroke of perfect timing, Iris of Artyarns, started a kal for her Alyssa Shawl on Facebook. Click here are the details. I have a skein of silk pearl in my stash just waiting for a home.