A Foray into Blocking

Usually when I crochet something, I make on big piece (like The Blanket I finished after Christmas). But with my current project, I'm making squares that have to be put together after they're finished. And since I tend to crochet a little tight, I decided to block out the squares so they would all end up being the same size.

In lieu of an actual blocking mat, I just ordered a foam play mat from Amazon (so I can change the size based on the project) and used some pins from my sewing kit to pin down the squares, measuring so that there were pins every 2 inches on each side. Then I used the same spray bottle I used to train Jack to stay off the counters and wet each one of the squares, then let them dry overnight.

Here's the work in progress:

Here's a un-blocked square on top of a blocked one, to show size difference:

So far, two of the rows are sewn together. I have 3 more to go, plus I'd like to do a border around the edge to make everything look nice and neat:)

Hopefully after this baby blanket is done, I can start learning to make amigurumi giraffes :-P