Detour on the Road to Another Shawl!

I was merrily knitting along last night when I came to the end of the first repeat of the body of Star of Evening. And I read the instructions for how many times to knit the 24 rows of pattern depending on the size shawl I wanted to make. Well. I thought, Hmm...how many yards of this Meezer yarn do I have, anyway?

And pulled out the un-caked skein to look at the tag. There was no problem with the yardage. But. I read the label a bit more carefully for the "first" time (I say that because I've had this yarn at least 2 years...I'm sure I looked at it before, or should have looked at it before, right? sigh).

It read: "SUPERWASH Merino."

My heart skipped a beat (this isn't a good thing, mind you, it scares me - I've survived a heart attack).

Superwash? Really? Surely I knew when I ordered over 1000 yards of this yarn that I was planning to make a lace shawl (of some pattern or another) with it! How could I have missed that this was superwash?

Some of you may be wondering why I worried? Well. Superwash merino, I thought, can't be blocked. LACE, to truly look delicate and light and airy, is BLOCKED.

Emails passed back and forth between me and several folks: Opal who knits some of the most amazing shawls I've ever seen; Jocelyn who test-knits for Anne; Jane (tho' I know that Jane mostly knits acrylics, she holds my hand when I panic); Roxie who hand-dyed The Meezer colorway, and assures me that superwash can be blocked; Ruinwen, knitting teacher extraordinaire, and Reiki master; Judy who shares my compulsion for multiple projects of both lace and socks.

By afternoon, I'd made a decision: I would damp block the Star of Evening to this point. But...I had early on succumbed to order laceweight merino from Kim in the Seascapes colorway (perfect for a Star of Evening, I think!), and the wondrous Meezer colorway will become another sock-weight Clapotis which looks extra fabulous UN-blocked! (Kate even begged me - via Ravelry group - NOT to block my previous one, and I haven't!)

BUT...Judy and I were curious - just what would happen if you block superwash sock yarn? So, across the continent from each other, with different patterns, and superwash yarns, we're conducting an experiment and taking notes - You, dear readers, will be the beneficiaries of our combined experiences!

My first sample is The Meezer yarn - fingering weight superwash merino from Zen Yarn Garden, knit on size 3 Addi Lace needles...
please excuse the waterspots on my ironing board - it's "damp blocked" on the needles (as I didn't want to cast off and create a swatch (which Judy has said she will do!).

I'll fill you in on my success (or not!) tomorrow when it's dry.