Blocking…one of the dreaded trifecta of boring knitting tasks (the other two being swatching and weaving in ends). However, blocking can make or break the look of a finished garment.

The more fibre I process from raw product to finished object, the more magical the whole procedure becomes. Wool is an amazing thing to work with, and is really quite underrated as a natural fabric. One of the magic properties of wool is its ability to retain its shape as it dries. By using this property, garments can be shaped to make a perfect fit or to highlight the main features of a pattern. All hand knit garments benefit from a light blocking after being washed.

I’m a fan of wet blocking. It’s simple and predictable, and you can do it just about anywhere. I recently finished the Draconis shawl by Nim Teasdale, and just about used every pin in the house to get it fully blocked up!

For this beautiful shawl, opening up the lace is key to the final look of the shawl, so it was blocked hard by stretching the fabric pretty far.

After knitting was finished and ends woven in, I gave the shawl a wash with some shampoo in cool water. After about 15 minutes, I rinsed and gently squeezed out excess water, then rolled in a towel and stepped on it to get rid of more water.

To block, I first inserted and pinned the blocking wires along the top of the shawl. Then each of the main bottom-most points along the border were stretched and pinned. I adjusted after the initial pinning by moving pins in/out any place I thought was uneven. Finally the individual picots were pinned, and the shawl was allowed to dry overnight.

There can be some things to consider when blocking a garment:

• What was the designer’s intended shape for the garment? For the Draconis shawl above, the designer’s shape was described as a little more than a half circle. I made sure to put a good angle on the blocking wires across the top to make the desired shape.

• What tools do you have available for blocking? Blocking wires can really help to keep lines straight if you have them. A blocking mat can help too, Most of them have a grid pattern to help you square up your garment where needed. But really, all that is needed are some pins and a soft surface to stick them in (carpet, bed, foam mats). A measuring tape is handy as well.

• Are you blocking lace, colour work, or just blocking to get a bit of shaping? Each type of garment needs a different approach.

  • Lace is blocked more aggressively, since the goal is to open up the lace work and show off the delicate beauty of the pattern. Lace shawls are usually stretched out quite far and the fabric is under a lot of tension while it dries.

  • Colour work sections of garments usually benefit from moderate blocking, because colour work sections are often a bit tighter than non-colourwork sections. Stretching out and pinning the colour work portions of a garment can help them look more even compared to the rest of the garment, and will make sure the colour pattern looks amazing.

  • Shaping a garment usually just involves light blocking. You may want to slightly stretch the arms of your sweater to match the pattern dimensions, or give a bit of waist shaping. Brioche knitted hats can benefit from a night stuffed with towels to bring the ribbing to life.

The nice thing about blocking is that you can re-do it if you don’t like it. Just wet your garment again and re-pin!

Do you always block your knits? Have you found an easier method than wet blocking? Let me know if you have any tips!