Based on my questionnaires’ in the FB groups, many knitters skip blocking the finished knitted/crochet garment for a number of reasons. Let us find out what blocking is and why it is recommended not to ignore this important step.
What is blocking?
Blocking is the process of wetting/washing or steaming finished knitted parts or garments in order to give them their permanent size and shape.
Blocking can be done before or after seaming.
Why I recommend blocking/washing the knitted garment before starting wearing or gifting it.
1. As you knit, the edges of the pieces can be rolled badly, especially in stockinette stitch. Blocking helps to eliminate or reduce this problem and flatten the fabric, which helps with seaming.
2. Blocking helps to even the stitches and makes fabric more pretty. This point is very important for lacy garments and shawls. Most lacy stitches does not look beautiful until blocked (see the first photo in this post). Blocking helps to reveal beautiful lacy stitches and “read” them.
3. Many wool yarns such as merino wool, mohair, angora, etc. become much softer and more hairy after being blocked and washed for the first time.
4. You can make some changes to the shape and size of you knitted garment or pieces (if you block before seaming) as you block. The amount of change that you can achieve with blocking depends on the type of yarn, your knitting tension (how tight the finished fabric is) and blocking method. Wet blocking allows for more changes than steaming.
5. Wet blocking is also an important step to wash out dye residue, grease and other contaminants from knitwear prior to first wear. Every inch of yarn passes through our hands and can absorb grease, dirt, hand cream, etc. All this stuff should be washed out, especially on baby and children knitwear.
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