Blocking

Sometimes it seems that knitting has a specially coded language all of its own, and one of the words that people throw around is ‘blocking’. I have to be honest that I was not myself aware of it until the last few years, as I have become a more experienced knitter. So I thought it might help if I described what it involved.

Most knitting patterns will contain an instruction under heading ‘Finishing’ or ‘Making Up’ which will go something like this: “weave in the ends, pin your garment out to the size stated in the pattern, and leave to dry” (West Yorkshire Spinners) or “handwash in a wool safe detergent and rinse in lukewarm water. Wrap in a towel or use a very light spin to remove excess water. Stretch over a bowl or balloon of appropriate size and leave to dry” (Shetland Wool Week Hat), or “weave in ends and wet block the finished shawl to smooth the fabric” (Stephen West). All of these describe what is known in the craft as ‘blocking’. The purpose of blocking is, as Stephen West suggests, to smooth the knitted fabric and to make it look finished.

The first kind of blocking described above is Steam Blocking. This seems to be go to technique suggested by West Yorkshire Spinners and many of my customers also use it. In this case you will lay out your garment, pin it into the correct shape and recommended size and then place a clean damp cloth over it. You can then either just leave it as it is until it is dry, or you can use a warm iron to create steam passing it over the cloth, but barely touching it and avoiding any garter stitch or ribbed stitches. You would then leave it to dry completely before removing the pins. Using the steam iron is only recommended if your yarn allows – I would suggest that it is a bit risky to bring an iron too near to any nylon or acrylic fabrics.

Wet blocking is the best way to even out your knitting. I use this technique with all my hand knitted garments. In this case you would place your item into lukewarm (hand hot) water. You can, as I do, wash it with an appropriate wool wash – I have several animals in my house one of whom shares the sofa where I knit, and sometimes I take months over garments and I like to get them clean. I usually leave it to soak for at least twenty minutes. This is because it takes a while for pure wool to fully absorb water. Squeeze the garment gently and then lay it flat on a towel. Roll the towel to squeeze out more water. Pin the item into shape on layers of towels or blocking mats and leave to dry. Some people have spinners which they swear by for taking out the moisture before blocking. Some people use salad dryers! I would not recommend using the spin cycle on your washing machine as it may felt the wool.

Blocking is particularly important if you have been knitting lace. It opens up the stitches so that the pattern is clearly visible. There is a great deal of difference, for example, between an unblocked and a blocked Shetland lace shawl – until it is blocked you can barely see the pattern. Afterwards it will be a thing of beauty. Anyone who has ever knitted a Stephen West shawl will know that they not only grow considerably when blocked, but also that they look really professional. The first shawl I ever knitted – the Inclinations Shawl by Andrea Mowry which is in Fishermans Rib, was disappointingly small until I blocked it – it nearly doubled in size and the ribs opened out beautifully.

Similarly, any kind of colourwork, whether Scandinavian style yokes or Fair Isle, will always look better after blocking. The wool will ‘bloom’ – that is swell slightly – and create an even fabric. The suggestion of blocking a hat over a bowl was a revelation to me – it helps create the lovely beanie shapes in the Fair Isle hats that we knit every year.

We sell blocking mats and pins, although, as described above, towels do very well. We have sock blockers to make your hand knitted socks into proper sock shapes. We even have lace blocking equipment (hap blockers) for those Shetland lace shawls – a metal frame to help you get the perfect square. What I really want in my life, but they are very expensive, is the traditional Shetland Jumper board – the best way there is to block any knitted jumpers because they are upright rather than laid flat so dry more quickly. One day perhaps!

So, if you do not already block your finished knits, I strongly recommend that you start. You will be amazed what a difference it makes!