A Day of the Dead blocking party

After I finished my blog post on Sunday, I realized that there really wasn’t a whole lot of time for me to finish the project. It had taken me three days to crochet six of the sixteen crochet squares needed for the finished piece, and I had not thought to schedule any time for a “blocking party,” where I could get the pieces stretched to their best effect before joining.

Realizing that I was seemingly already behind, I decided to crochet until I was too tired to make one more stitch, and then I set myself a series of easy to complete tasks to get me started, and just as the sun was setting yesterday, I had gotten this far:

The halfway point for my Day of the Dead crochet installation
The halfway point for my Day of the Dead crochet installation

But I didn’t stop my work at sunset. I had finished exactly half of the squares needed for the project, and I realized that if this piece is going to be ready in time for the Day of the Dead, I needed to keep at it, so I did, and by noon today, I had made enough progress that not only could I see that my deadline was within reach:

Three quarters of the way to having all the crochet squares needed
Three quarters of the way to having all the crochet squares needed

there was also time to have that “blocking party” I was intent on having:

I try blocking some of the completed crochet squares
I try blocking some of the completed crochet squares

This “crochet mural” or “crochet poster” that I am making is modest by yarn bombing standards, but it is a largely solo effort, and I am doing what I can to make it as easy to join as possible. In an effort to determine if the blocking was worth the time, I laid out the blocked and unblocked pieces in the late afternoon light and got this photo:

An overview of my progress for a Day of the Dead crochet mural
An overview of my progress for a Day of the Dead crochet mural

To my eye, it seems that the blocking is worth the effort, and so tonight, when I have stitched as many stitches as I can, I will block the pieces that remain and prepare tomorrow’s list of crochet tasks that must be done.