We are rapidly approaching the holidays, which means lots of gift-giving. Which, for knitters, means lots of knitting projects to finish!! One of the things that will make your projects look a little more professional and well-made is proper blocking.
Blocking allows the yarn and the stitches to “set” in the way that you want. This is particularly crucial for natural fibers and lace patterns. Many knitters will tell you that they don’t worry about blocking – I was one of those for entirely too long. After blocking a few items and seeing how they went from ordinary to beautiful, I am now a die-hard enthusiast for blocking your knitted items!
How you block things depends largely on the fiber type. Your goal is to lay out the pieces to the correct size before sewing them together (if needed). For man-made fibers, little blocking is needed. You can pin the pieces out and spritz them with water.
I like to wet-block wool because it allows the stitches to relax into place. Wool knitting can be soaked with wool wash in tepid water for about 15 minutes, then very gently rinsed. Avoid agitation or your wool will felt!! After rinsing, gently roll the item in a towel to remove as much water as possible. Then pin out onto a towel or blocking board and allow to dry. Wool can also be steam blocked.
Cotton is inelastic when wet, so handle with care. I tend to wet-block my cottons, but steam blocking is also possible. Silk becomes weaker when it is wet, so be careful when blocking it. Generally, pinning and spritzing is best, although I will wet block silk blends when I make lace items.
This is not remotely an exhaustive treatment of the topic of blocking! Here are a couple of links that will give you some good information. You can also check out a good knitting encyclopedia.
Questions? Stop by The Knitting Nest and we’ll be happy to try to help!
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