Blocking Practices Part 2

Here I am, blocking the very soft, kid mohair scarf I knitted using the "Wisp" pattern freely available from Knitty the free online magazine. Absolutely the opposite of my previous Debbie Bliss cable cardigan in both form and substance.

I think this is a good example of showing how to block a piece that is very soft and much larger than my blocking board. I have folded it in half.

As usual, I baste all around the double thickness edges with a running stitch using a pale, sturdy yarn, as I mentioned in Part 1.Then I place pins in the corners to mark the expected (half) measurement of the finished scarf.

I have put a dowel in the fold and anchored it behind the pins by tension and then pinned the opposite edge, then pins at the half way point on the length, then split those distances in half and so on until I have pins about 2 inches apart.

I use an ordinary iron, with steam first hovering over the scarf, pressing the button all the while, to give it the general idea. I then move closer and closer to the fabric until I am almost touching it, still making lots of steam.

By using a dowel at the fold I don't create a sharp crease at the midpoint, and can happily steam the piece to the very edges.

For a nylon/synthetic yarn, which melts and hardens when touched by an iron such as classic Sirdar Snuggly, the method varies.  I use an almost wet well worn tea towel, laying it on the piece, section by section, dipping it and wringing it out in a handy nearby bowl of water. I rather enjoy the sizzling sound it makes as I work, almost but not quite as much as I enjoy the smell of steamy pure wool.

What about wet blocking, well... for sure there is little risk to your knitting by pinning it out and spraying it with water, then leaving it to dry. The action of washing also smooths out the hand knitting fabric, especially over time. However without heat, the fabric won't have memory of the desired shape and dimensions. Think about the result of using a curling wand on hair. Further, should you wash the fabric in hot or warm water without blocking, it will take that memory, but in an unorganized manner. So by using sufficient heat, and setting parameters, and unless you wash it at a higher temperature than steam, which you are unlikely to do, the blocking memory will stay.

Extra note! Pure Cotton and Linen don't keep a hot blocked memory, the process above applies to animal and synthetic fibres. You need to remind such fibres after every wash by laying them flat to dry. A good reason to use blends like Regia Tutti Frutti . Remember when people used to iron the household linens after each wash? I have found over the years that my cotton sweaters go short and wide after washing, without exception. I now choose a size with negative ease and add 25% more length than the pattern states.