One of the things I’m trying to show you here is how blocking changes fabric, so let’s start out by really looking at the fabric fresh off the needles.

This is how it looks flat. Notice that the top and bottom edge are sort of rolled and a little wavy. Notice how the hole in the lace are a little uneven. Notice how the fabric is a little crumpled.  This doesn’t mean you did anything wrong! This is just what lace looks like before it’s blocked. It’s totally 100% absolutely normal.

And this is how it looks on the dressform.  See how small it is? See how the edges roll up.  See how the stitch pattern is sort of hidden?  Again, you didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just not done yet.

This is going to change a whole lot as we block it, but I can’t show you that change without showing you where we start. And this is where we start.

P.S. This cowl is called Evolve, and it’s currently available in Jen Arnall-Culliford’s lovely book, Confident Knitting. Later this year the rights come back to me, at which point I’ll release it individually. As part of the prep for that, I got another sample knit, and I’m using it to show you how I block things like this.

Don’t worry, I’ll come back and tell you when the pattern is available individually.  Chances are good that will be September, but these last few years have left me wary of promising any specific dates.