This…this is mostly here because it has a certain low budget space princess vibe that amuses me.

But it is a good chance to take a moment and see how different fabric looks when it’s under tension. Compare it to how it looked before.

In the first picture, you’ve got the cowl with one wire at the bottom and another at the top. It’s not actually blocked yet! If you take the wires out it will sproing right back.

And in the second, you’ve got how it looked without the wires.

Look at the difference in the edges (curled up before the wires, smoothed out with the wires), the little scallops on the bottom edge (invisible before the wires, delightfully sculpted with the wires), the stitch pattern (a bit murky and hard to see before the wires, very clearly visible with the wires), and the size (barely reaching the shoulders before the wires, well out past the shoulders with the wires).

A good blocking will set all those changes and hold them in place, even once the wires are removed. I mean…mostly. Gravity is still a thing so the edges won’t float up like that without the wire, but the changes to the size and shape will totally stick around.

Next up…get this thing wet and make the weirdest lampshade ever.

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.