blocking- what the heck is it
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People usually wet or steam the finished project, stretch it a bit and then pin or clip it to a flat board.
You know how if you wash a sweater and then hang it on a hanger? It will have hanger marks in the shoulder and be all wonky. Yarn adjusts. It is just to make it adjust to the shape you want.
It won't stop stockinette from curling but it is good to do with sweater peices before putting together as they will be more flat.
It is "setting" the knitting. People don't tend to knit absolutely perfectly but part of the purpose blocking is to even that out a bit.
You know how if you wash a sweater and then hang it on a hanger? It will have hanger marks in the shoulder and be all wonky. Yarn adjusts. It is just to make it adjust to the shape you want.
It won't stop stockinette from curling but it is good to do with sweater peices before putting together as they will be more flat.
It is "setting" the knitting. People don't tend to knit absolutely perfectly but part of the purpose blocking is to even that out a bit.
One other note about blocking - most knitting grows a little when it's blocked. If you knit a sweater that fits and don't block it- you may be in for a rude awakening the first time you wash it properly... if you don't accidentally shrink it- you may find that your sweater grew.
When you knit a swatch with a new yarn to get guage- especially with larger garments- it's really a good idea to wash and block your swatch before doing the math to figure out your stitch count. In a small item it's unlikely to make much of a difference- but in a big garment it can add up to a major fitting problem.
When you knit a swatch with a new yarn to get guage- especially with larger garments- it's really a good idea to wash and block your swatch before doing the math to figure out your stitch count. In a small item it's unlikely to make much of a difference- but in a big garment it can add up to a major fitting problem.
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