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Blocked and in Use

I was going to say “last weekend I blocked my shawl” but then I realized its Wednesday and thus it was actually two weekends ago. Oops. So on the last weekend in April I blocked my Fireworks Festival shawl:

The main image is a shawl spread out to block over grey beach towels. It’s a blue brioche with contrast pink and orange “fireworks” along the border. A small inset at the lower right shows a close up of one corner of the shawl to better see the fireworks the right way around.

And it was a good thing I got started first thing in the morning. Well ok, I think we had pancakes first. Pancakes on Sunday morning are important around here. Brioche, with it’s double layer, takes a while to dry. I had to flip it over and move it to the other side of the bed half way through the day and the window was open most of the time. As I mentioned earlier, the Maker’s Keep came in handy during this process as I had to remove and then replace every pin without losing any in the bedding. Someday I’ll buy those cool blocking mats… and I’ll have a studio with loads of shelves, one of those standing height padded work tables for cutting and pinning fabric, and green plants in front of the big sunshine filled windows…

Who am I kidding? Plants stand a better chance of surviving around me if I don’t try to take care of them. So scratch that bit of the dream (unless TheEnabler takes up gardening).

Anyway, no blocking mats yet, so pin free bed is critical!

Want to see what it looks like all blocked? Of course you do!

Two slightly different views of me holding the Fireworks Festival shawl, a blue brioche with orange and pink “fireworks” along the border, stretched out. I’m seated in front of a bamboo and paper screen.

And being worn:

My Fireworks Festival shawl is draped around my shoulders over a blue shirt.

And a few more poses just for good measure:

Three views of me wearing my Fireworks Festival shawl, a blue brioche shawl with “fireworks” of orange and pink yarn using syncopated brioche stitches, over a blue shirt. My hair is in a long ponytail. In the first the shawl is wrapped around my neck, in the second it’s draped over my shoulders, and in the third it’s draped over my head before being wrapped around my neck.

I love the colors. And I love that it goes with lots of my clothing! I have three pink tops, two orange tops, and a blue shirt that are all nearly exact matches for the colors in it. And of course it would be just fine with black or grey tops and dresses, of which I have a few.

And since the weather has decided to become brisk again I’ve been able to wear it several times already since blocking it. It looked particularly nice over my grey dress on Monday.

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