Option one
Published On: May 10, 2017

So, I hear from a lot of you that you’re scared of blocking or that it’s hard or that you just don’t want to do it.  And I sympathize…but I sort of need you to get over it.  If you have the skill to knit the thing, you have the skill to block it.  And your knitting will look so much better if you do.  I promise.

Remember, at its heart, blocking is just ‘get the thing wet…let it dry in the shape you like.’  That’s it.  That’s the minimum necessary requirement.  You can get all fancy and use pins and mats and rulers and all sorts of other props.  But at its most basic, you only need water and a place for the thing to dry.  You can’t tell me that’s too hard.

Here’s an example of the sort of difference this most basic level of blocking can make.

I took the finished cuff, threw it in a sink full of cool water, squeezed it a few times to help it get properly soaked, and left it there for half an hour.  Then I squeezed out the water (I didn’t even use a towel, I just squeezed it tight in my fist) and laid it out smooth on the counter by the sink.  I tugged on it a bit here and there and made sure it was folded evenly in half and that was it.  I left it until it was dry.

Is it perfect? Nope.  Perfect takes a bit more effort, and I’ll show you how to do it in the next post (but really…it isn’t all that much harder).  But compare it to the one still on the needles.  The blocked one is so much better.  You owe it to yourself to do this much at least.  And I’m going to give you such a dirty look if you tell me you can’t.

 

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