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Finishing Workshop: Blocking Options

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blocking knittingI will admit that I don’t always block all of my knitting projects, so I’m still impressed at how much better things look when I do.

Blocking is a really helpful step in finishing if you’re going to be sewing pieces together, but it’s great for any project you want to look its best.

Blocking smooths out your stitches, can help with minor sizing problems and just makes your project look better. finishing knits

It’s kind of a pain because when you finish something you want to wear or use it right away, but in a lot of cases it’s well worth the wait (and when it comes to lace, it’s essential, but we’ll talk more about that tomorrow).

I pretty much always do what’s known as “wet blocking,” meaning that you get the item wet (which I do by soaking in the sink or a bucket for 30 minutes or so, usually with a squirt or wool wash), get out as much water as you can by rolling the item in a towel and pressing, then lay the item out on a towel and, if necessary, pinning it into the shape you require.

Pinning can also help smooth out the edges of stockinette pieces, which will make them easier to seam.

There’s also spray blocking, where you pin the garment into shape first, then spray it with a bit of water to relax the fibers and get them to smooth down. There’s a detailed tutorial on this over at the Purl Bee. Or steam blocking, which is done the same way, except you use a steamer or the steam setting on an iron to push the steam through the garment.

The big warning on that is to make sure the iron doesn’t touch the knitting, so it doesn’t scorch. Some people use a piece of cloth over the knitting, or you can just be careful to keep the iron a couple of inches away from the garment.

Blocking is typically done on wool and other animal-fiber garments, but you can do it with other fibers as well. Check out this article from knitty that covers ways to deal with different fibers, and even how to make your own blocking board if you want to get fancier than a towel on the dining room table.

Do you ever block your knits? I’d love to hear what method you use!

[Photo via the Purl Bee.]

Comments

  1. When I lived up north, the cold water was always cold enough to stiffen my wool items so that I could lay them out to block/dry.

    Recently I tried to wash and block a wool scarf here in Texas. It grew and grew in the tepid “cold” water. I now realize that I need to add ice cubes to my final rinse to stiffen the wool fibers.

    Lesson learned.

Have you read?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.