Icarus is blocking!

Before blocking:after being pinned out:

and a close up:
I have to say having an extra bed sure makes blocking a lot easier! I used to try and block shawls on the floor which worked all right, but the pins didn't stay in very well. I'm not sure how I would have done that with Amelia now. At least I can close the door to the guest bedroom and keep her away.

I really wish I had blocking wires, but as I do not, I was able to try a tip from Interweave. I strung a cotton thread (I used crochet cotton) through the center stitches and the top edge and pinned those down first. Then I was able to pin out each of the edge tips. I added more pins to the top to keep the cotton thread in line, but I didn't have to use nearly as many pins up there as I normally would have.

After blocking the length is 42" and the width is 72" so this will be a really nice size. More pictures will follow once blocking is complete.

Oh, and I'm not sure that I mentioned it here, but I did need a second skein of yarn to complete this. The yarn I substituted was the exact same yardage as the yarn called for in the pattern, but as noted in Ravelry, I am definitely one of the knitters who needed more. Not much more, but I did have to attach the second skein to finish the last 4 rows and the bind off. I have not wound up the skein again to calculate just how much I yardage I used, but it wasn't really too much, so I am certain I could make another shawl from the remainder of the skein sometime in the future. I will just have to look for one that calls for maybe 650 yards or less or laceweight yarn.