Blocking Materials

Week 8 = Knitting Accessories
Day 4 = February 22, 2014

     Once you are finished knitting a project, most likely you will not give the item away until you complete one more step... BLOCKING! When you block you allow the hidden beauty of an item to unfold right before your eyes. Blocking opens up your knitting, helps you to shape the item and, for certain fibers, sets up a type of shape memory.

     Just to give you an idea of how blocking looks, I have a set of before and after pictures for a gorgeous shawl that my mother knit and blocked.

 

Triangular shawl pre-blocking

 

Triangular shawl post-blocking

     Have you ever had a shirt with a label that said reshape and dry flat? Well, that is blocking. You are reshaping the knit item.

     When you block a knit item for the first time, you need certain accessories to help you hold the knit item in place until it is thoroughly dry. Some knitters buy blocking kits while others use what they have on hand. I have a little bit of both types. See below:

• Blocking Wires
• Straight 36"
• Straight 18"
• Curved
• Blocking Mats
• Children's foam floor squares with alphabet
• Children's foam floor squares with Disney's Cars 
• Blocking Pins
• T-blocking pins
• Push Pins (although I prefer my mother's quilting pins)
• White Towels
• used to gently press out excess water from the knitting after soaking. DO NOT WRING knitting 
• used under the item being blocked to soak up excess moisture while the blocked item is drying
• Bucket - for soaking your knitting
• Spray Bottle - to help keep your knit item moist while pinning it in place
• Eucalan - a no rinse, delicate wash soap added to the water used for soaking your knitting
• Yard Stick

     Not all knitting requires blocking... but all knitting benefits from being blocked. The trick is patience and persistence.

Question of the day

What was the first item that you ever blocked?

Blocking my Knitting,

Victoria