Everything You Need to Know about Blocking Knits

Blocking your knitting is an important last step to ensuring that your knit projects looks as good as they should. It’s essential for lace knitting projects to open up the eyelets, but it’s great for a lot of other knitting projects, too, to smooth out the stitches and help with shaping.

Knitting Authority has a great (and lengthy) guide to blocking knitting, including the tools required and how to perform different techniques like wet blocking, steam blocking and spray blocking.

This is a great one to bookmark (or save on Pinterest) to refer to when finishing different projects so you can choose the best method of blocking and do it correctly.

Have any great blocking tips? My main one is just to do it, because I put it off often and it definitely makes a project feel and look finished.

[Photo: Knitting Authority.]

If your family is the sort to do a turkey trot for Thanksgiving, or even just to take family pictures, you’ll want to get started knitting up some Turkey Sack Hats with this pattern from Underground Crafter.

The pattern uses super bulky yarn and is rated easy. It’s knit flat but there are a few skills in here around the shaping of the eyes, which includes changing colors, working bobbles and doing a wicked purl 3 together decrease. Twice.

But that’s all in one row, and the rest of it is pretty simple. The beak is worked separately and sewn on, and the side of the hat is stitched up to make it into a hat.

What’s great about this one is that it comes in 10 sizes, ranging from newborn to adult large, so you really can make one for everyone in the family. And because it uses super bulky yarn you can knit a bunch pretty quickly if that’s a thing you’d like to do.

It’s also fun because you could use this base pattern to make different animals or for different holidays. Make it all in orange and stitch on a jack o’lantern face for Halloween, or make a white one that’s a snowman, for example.

In any style this would also be a fun gag gift for that person in your life who has everything or doesn’t want gifts, or if you do a secret Santa or white elephant gift exchange at work or elsewhere.

And make sure whether you’re making it a turkey or some other character that you include the pom poms at the top! They’re just so cure and a great way to add a bit more color to the project, and they’re easy to make. (See also: ways to make a pompom with yarn.)

You can grab the free pattern at the Underground Crafter website.

[Photo: Underground Crafter]

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