How to Block Your Knitting

One of the most important things you can do to improve the look and quality of your finished knitting is to block it. Blocking simply involves pressing the pieces into a crisp shape. Because yarn is, by it's very nature, pretty stretchy, It can sometimes be difficult to create neat, clean lines like you can with other fabrics. Blocking helps to 'set' the knitting into a neat shape so that it can be sewn up into a finished garment, or worn on it's own (as in the case of a one piece garment.)

Equipment needed:

- Iron
- Glass head pins - you don't strictly need the pins to be glass head but they're much, much easier to see if they are
- Damp cloth or towel
- Ironing board or suitable surface to pin your knitting flat.

Place your knitting on the ironing board and pin into the desired shape; place the pins through the knitting into the board to hold it in place.

Take a damp cloth or towel (Run it under the tap and then ring it out fully - it should be damp not wet) and place it over the knitting. Press (don't rub) a medium iron over the cloth for a few seconds at a time.

The idea is to let the dampness from the cloth produce a small amount of steam to set the yarn. Be careful not to let the iron stand for too long and let the yarn get too hot.

When you've pressed the whole piece, remove the cloth but leave the knitting to stay pinned in place until it has cooled completely. This will set it and produce the clean, crisp effect.

If you're knitting a garment that need sewing up, this will provide you with new edges to sew up and clean lines that will hang well and give you a professional look.

Comments

[Marie]

I've always been too scared to use an iron. I do all my blocking via the "wet method" (wash it and block it while wet). Sometimes I don't block a piece at all.
I know that some materials look best when blocked with an iron, but I still can't bring myself to do it.

[Jo]

Happy Holidays! Don't be scared! I have to admit - I don't always block every piece I knit - I think it depends on the yarn that you use, because some of them hold their shape really well without blocking. The thing with using the iron is that you just have to be careful with the heat - I never use a very hot iron and I always make sure the cloth is wet enough to protect the knitted piece. Oh, and don't leave it in one place for too long (only a second or too is usually enough).

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