Anybody know anything about blocking please?

[Niecie]

Never done blocking before but it seems to be mentioned in more and more magazines and patterns.

So, my questions are

Where do you do it? It seems to require a space bigger than an ironing board.

Do you go the whole hog and dampen, pin, press and then leave to dry? Sounds time consuming and I am impatient, once I have finished the knitting bit, to get the job finished!!!

Do you do it for everything?

Does it really make a difference?

My current pattern for a cowl says to block it when finished but how when it is knitted in the round? I thought blocking was supposed to shape things either to make them up or to open up lace work.

Thanks.

Niecie it depends what you are making and how fine the work is.

Some knitting does not require blocking but to a lace shawl it makes all the difference in the world - take a look at the November edition of Knitting Magazine and an article by the Mason Dixon Line. I usually use a steam iron and a damp tea towel and work from the back of the garment.

The older I get, the more I make and the more I do it with my iron!

Blocking helps to shape the garment. I do block the items I knit/Crochet. Particularly before assembly [jumpers etc] as it makes it a little easier.

With a cowl that's in the round you can block in sections.

I use a spray bottle to dampen the project first, then pin it to dimensions. You are stretching out the pattern, but not distorting it. I tend to leave mine to dry over night. I find a cork pin board with a tea towel between the cork and the project helpful and it absorbs the extra dampness.

I've never pressed/iron blocked before.

I've got a load of those foam play mats which I bought fairly cheaply in Tesco a couple of years ago. They are brilliant as you can put out as few or many as you need and in the shape you need too. I cover them with a towel. I wash the items and squash out as much water as I can, then pin them onto the mats and leave to dry.

I wash most things. I don't always pin them out if size and shape is not crucial. Pinning is essential for shawls, it makes all the difference.

If I make things for DS or DP I don't always wash them, but if I'm giving them away I feel like I should!

Thanks everybody. Interesting that blocking means slightly different things to different people eg. some use an iron and some don't but that is the impression from I get from some of the things I have read too.

Lattelady - Saw the Mason Dixon article in Knitting. That might even have been what prompted this thread actually although it has taken me a few days to start it!

I shall give it a go with the cowl.

there is an article about blocking in the latest knitty

Thanks trice.

That is some extreme blocking there!! I am not sure I could actually stand on mine - it would flatten the life out of it completely as I am not a little dainty thing!!

I might however be brave after see that and properly wash things before sewing them together rather than fiddling around trying to dampen it.

The steam blocking is more my thing - not too far removed from what patterns used to say about pressing your work before sewing it together, just requiring more care. My cowl has cashmere and silk in it the fibre mix so that is probably more appropriate