Having spent hours creating a unique item, blocking knitting can be the final touch to give it the wow factor.
What is blocking knitting?
Blocking your knitted items means soaking, wetting, or steaming them when finished to stretch them out and set their shape. When you block your knits, it increases the drape level and evens it out, creating a professional look. On cable and lace designs, it is useful for highlighting pattern repeats and stitching.
The blocking process can be used on jumpers, scarves, mittens, lacework, socks, and baby blankets, and it is ideal when you want to gift the item. It can only be used on natural fibres, with the equivalent process for synthetic fibres known as killing.
Blocking is ideal for crochet blankets, as it will help to hide any irregularities and bring out any textured stitches, such as cables or bobbles. If you would like some ideas for designs for crochet blanket kits, online suppliers such as Wool Couture stock a wide range.
With more and more young people taking up knitting as a hobby, including TikTok star Dan Soar, blocking knitting is also seeing a rise in popularity. According to the BBC Dan knitted 19 blankets in just 24 hours.
How to block your knitting
Blocking is best done before any knitted pieces are sewn together; in this way, you can steam block your seams for a good finish. You will need a clean bucket or a sink, rust-proof pins, and clean, old towels. Wash your item on a delicate cycle or hand wash in cool water before wringing it out. You should then blot even more of the water out by rolling it in a towel and then spreading it out on a flat surface on top of several towels. Use the pins to keep the corners in place and leave the item to air dry for between 12 and 24 hours.
You can also buy blocking mats from craft stores. These are designed to increase air circulation as the blanket dries.
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