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| Before & After Blocking |
Basic Blocking
- Soak piece for 15 minutes in warm water. I like using a wool rinse such as Eucalan Woolwash ( rinse is optional)
- While you are waiting, take a large towel or one large enough for the piece and spread it out. You will be placing the piece on it later.
- Once it’s done soaking, using both hands, carefully remove the piece from the water. Do not wring or twist piece. It is very delicate at this point. Press both palms of your hand together to squeeze some of the water out. It will still be wet and may even be dripping a little bit. That’s ok.
- Place the piece on the towel and spread it out carefully not to over stretch.
- Roll the towel from one end to the other end as if to make a pastry roll.
- Now press on the towel to remove the excess water. I like to but the roll on the floor and walk on it. That does a great job of getting the water out.
- Now you’re ready to spread the piece over the blocking mats and pin into proper shape. If you don’t have blocking mats, get creative and use anything that will allow you to put pins through it. Some use the guest bed for blocking, placing the piece over a dry towel and pinning down through the mattress.
- Wait until the piece is totally dry before removing the pins. This may take 1 –2 days.
- Once blocked and after the piece relaxes, if it had been stretched too much during blocking, it is not unusual for it to shrink back a bit.
Blocking garments that require seaming and putting together such as sweaters and cardigans.
- Unless specifically instructed, all pieces should be blocked before seaming. Follow same directions above.
- Block pieces to dimension according to pattern schematics. For example, if I am blocking the back piece of a cardigan, I will want to form the back piece to fit the proper dimensions. These dimensions include the width, length, armhole depth, back width, or any other dimension noted on the schematics for that particular piece.
- I like to use masking tape to mark my blocking board. I will put a long strip on the top and bottom of the board, then on both right and left side. Then using a measuring tape, I mark the masking tape to indicate where and how the piece will be spread.
- Once all the pieces have been blocked to the right size and dimensions, you will find it easier to do the seam.
Blocking Lace
When blocking lace, something quite magical happens. To bring out the beauty in knitted lace, it needs to be blocked. Blocking relaxes the stitches and opens up the eyelets. It’s as if it has been delicately ironed.
To make “point” at the edge of a shawl, use pins to stretch out the area where you want a point.
