Finished!

I finished knitting the shawl for my Mom's Christmas gift.

Now that its done and all the ends are woven in its time to block the shawl. First I place the shawl in a tub of hot water.

I let it sit and soak for a bit...30 mins or so making sure the wool yarn has soaked up as much water as it can hold.

I then take it and very gently squeeze out as much water as I can being careful not to felt the fibers. That would be BAD. Then I wrap the shawl in a towel and squeeze out even more water.

 Next I lay the shawl out on my blocking boards. These are interlocking foam blocks that I can configure to fit the project I am blocking.

Now I pin the thing into shape. I pin a lot.

Now I just need to let it sit and dry.

So why block you knitting? You are able to shape the piece into the way you want them to live. It makes your knitting more even and it sets the stitches. You can fix a lot of wonky stuff with blocking. Once the piece is blocked it will hold the form you blocked it to. Never blocked your knitting?  Give it a try.