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Finishing Workshop: How to Block Lace

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lace blocking wiresYesterday we talked in general about how and why to block knitting projects, but there’s one case in which blocking is not optional, and that’s with lace knitting.

If you’ve knit lace before you may remember your first lace project and how it looked rather like wadded up tissue paper when you were done knitting it.

Lace straight off the needles is rarely pretty. But there’s an easy cure: blocking.

In this case, I would wet block unless your project is too fragile for that. A blocking board is great because you’re going to need lots and lots of pins. (Or blocking wires; they’re totally worth it if you knit a lot of lace.)

As you pin down the project you really need to stretch and straighten it to get those eyelets opened. This is what makes all your hard work visible, so don’t skimp. Take your time and try to enjoy it as the last step you have to do before you get to enjoy your beautiful new lace thing.

And if you want to see the real magic that blocking lace can do, check out this tutorial on blocking a circular lace shawl. The blocking itself is a labor of love, but it’s absolutely crucial to have a project you’ll be happy with.

Any lace knitters out there want to share blocking stories? Or are there some lace projects lurking in your UFOs because you don’t know how or don’t want to block them? I’d love to hear about it.

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Comments

  1. I made a lace shawl out of premium (read: pricey and beautiful) mohair silk with sequins that I confess I didn’t test swatch prior to starting the project. When I finished it, it was as a prune is to a plum, and I presumed this was the price I paid for not having swatched before. Alas, it is still sitting at the bottom of a bag of scrap yarn. I’ve only just bought my first set of blocking wires, so I think it’s time to rescue that shawl!

Have you read?

Stitch Some Seagulls on Your Sweater

It’s been well documented that I love a knitting pattern with a bit of whimsy, so when I saw the Mine! Pullover from Sarah L. Kelly recently I knew I had to share it with you.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to knit a sweater with a yoke full of seagulls? And another seagull at the waist? Chasing little crabs?

The story behind the sweater (and you knew there had to be one, right?) is that while Sarah was traveling around Europe there were a lot of cheeky seagulls about. They reminded her of the scene in Finding Nemo where the seagulls say “mine, mine, mine” and thus the Mine! series of patterns was born. 

Oh yes, there’s a whole set. It was the sweater I saw first but there’s also a pair of socks (and the pattern says there’s a cowl, too, but I couldn’t find it as of this writing. If you see it let me know and I’ll add the link here!) so you can totally deck yourself out in pesky seabirds if you want.

But back to the sweater for now. This is worked in DK weight yarn from the top down in the round. The yoke and a section at the bottom are worked in stranded colorwork, with stripes on the body, though you could make the body a single color if you wanted. Details like the beaks and eyes are added with duplicate stitch to make the knitting a little easier.

The colorwork sections are charted. The pattern comes in 10 sizes, with a finished chest circumference ranging from 32 to 68 inches, or 80 to 170 cm.

The socks are worked in sock yarn and come in three sizes. There worked from the cuff down and change needle sizes to accommodate the less stretchy nature of stranded colorwork. You can choose from a side profile or a seagull that’s looking out from the sock. Make a matching pair or mix it up.

Both patterns are available on Ravelry: sweater and socks. If you make them I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sarah L. Kelly]