Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Work in Progress Wednesday - Blocking

Hi there.  All my knitting lately has been on my Dansez Custom Fit sweater.  I was really hoping to get it done for this Friday, but reality is contriving against that.  The front and back are done and I'm almost done one sleeve.  With lots on my schedule, finishing another sleeve, blocking and finishing are not happening by early Friday - maybe late Friday.  Who am I kidding?

I'm happy with how this is turning out.  The lace edging blocked out well.  I'm a bit concerned about the sleeves, may be tighter than what I like but this is a wool cotton blend, so I can probably be able to get a bit more width from it.

I came up with a great change to my blocking routine.  This may be old news to everyone else but it was a revelation to me.  I always wet block - I don't work with fibers that can't have that done.  I do the soaking - many times not as long as I should.  I confess, I'm impatient and I don't rinse as much as I should, frequently skip the roll in towels step.  I used to just take the dripping pieces, head to the guest room bedroom (it has guests two weeks a year and
is a blocking station the other 50), and lay out the pieces, pin, measure, pin again.
My new way starts the same.  Soak the pieces.  While they are soaking I pin out the outline based on the schematic and measurements (Amy Herzog is great about giving measurements of the finished pieces).  I pin the corners and the center line and various spots that look right.  By the time I finish doing that, the pieces have soaked for twenty minutes.  Then I rinse and squeeze out the excess water.  Then I gently lay out the piece to the pre-pinned outline, starting by pinning the corners and then going in.  Then I know it fits the measurements and I can smooth it out.  This has been a great change - especially since my last two projects have had a large cotton percentage and that can grow on you if you are not careful.
Maybe everyone does this and I was just slow figuring this out.  It does make it faster and less stressful to pin out.  I did add additional pins for the lace points after the rest was pinned out.  What other tips do you use for blocking?
It's Wednesday but Tami hadn't posted as of a few minutes ago.  Hope she is okay and just running late.  Head over there later and check it out.

2 comments:

  1. Brilliant idea! I will try that next time I block a garment. It makes so much sense.

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  2. I know, it seems so simple, why didn't I know that before?!?

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