The Rector Blocking Method

OK somebody else may have thought of this first but since I had never seen it, I'm claiming it as my own.

I just finished a test knit for a girl from Germany. I needed to block it last night and decided to try something on my own. I knew Yarn Harlot did straight edges with string on the top edge of a triangular scarf but still pinning it down to get the points. I had 4 straight edges and had another idea. Why not stretch it between heavy dining room chairs to dry? It could dry faster by not sitting on top of something wet but still dry out naturally . So I did it. Nothing to lose; if it didn't work I could just wet it and start again. But I love the way it turned out. The ends are stretched a little more than the center. I guess I could have avoided that by putting 2 more chairs in the center and pulling the strings to them; but I like it the way it is. More pictures to follow of the stole; a marvelous history of the pattern but I'll wait until she is published and you can buy the pattern yourselves. BTW the color is not right; it's really Spruce Heather, a dark green.
OK so here is one of the pictures that she used to advertise the pattern. And here's another of a friend wearing the shawl. Anja calls it the Historical Stole.

I'M PUBLISHED

For several months I've been doing test/sample knitting for designers and a couple of yarn companies. Here is my first published project for KnitPicks (they make great yarn, BTW). They are called Negative Space Mittens. I learned to do I-cord binding on these. No, I didn't design anything here....and my name will not appear anywhere; but, I DID get paid to knit up the sample.

Emma's Blessing

Friends and family attended church Sunday, September 7, 2008 for the blessing of Emma Lynn Rector.

An informal dinner was held in the family's home after the service.


With both grandma's there, we had to take turns holding her.