Blocking a Swallow Tail Shawl

Its the second time I've knitted this pattern which I took from my first copy of Interweave magazine. The yarn is a blend of cashmere and silk, and is lovely and warm, and washes well. The whole piece weighs less than 20 grams.

I wear the original one, most days, and it is like a warm breath down my back and no weight at all. I call this my tucker, and when I am wearing it, I feel wonderful, just like wearing some favourite perfume.

A tucker as in 'best bib and tucker', was an important part of a ladies dress dating back several centuries.

My knitting muse, the extreme knitter, and extremely good knitter, introduced me to lace knitting, and Sharon Miller. It was from Sharon that I bought my dressing rods. Today I had yet another further improvement in my dressing technique! I used the drying stand and whilst threading the rods through the edge of the lace, I discovered that I could use the corner construction of the drier to keep the rods square and tensioned. Along the long edge, as well as threading the rod through the edge, I also wove a wire in and out through the shawl and the mesh which forms the bed of the drier. The shawl is well aired and has dried far more quickly than on a towel which I had used up to now. On the towel I also found that it was not easy to anchor the pins themselves in order to keep the right tension on the piece to be blocked.

I started this shawl on Christmas Day and cast off the last stitch on 17 January, and now it is ready to give to a new knitting friend whom I met on an my first knitting day course led by Debbie Abrahams.