Finishing Workshop: Blocking Options

February 11, 2014 by Sarah White

I 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.

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

Susan Delaney says
February 12, 2014 at 11:05 am
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?

Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns.

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn.

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options.

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners.

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set.

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn.

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers.

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.