(almost) finished!

I know it's been a while since anyone has commented here, so I was wondering how progress is going!

I am almost finished...I have finished the knitting part, and just need to sew in my ends and then block. Any pointers/helpful suggestions for blocking? I'm told it's really easy, but I've never blocked anything in my life, and I'm nervous that something irreversibly bad will happen when I put my soft cashmere shawl into a sinkful of water.

And now that I have batteries in my camera that actually work (it's been a multi-month saga--don't ask), I may even have pictures to share soon!