Top Tips for Knitters and Crocheters - Week 2 - Finishing Off

Ok, so week 2 has been a little bit delayed due to the brilliant chaos of attending Wonderwool Wales last weekend. My timekeeping aside though - how you finish of your project will make all the difference in how professional it looks. 

This is also where my bias towards natural fibres, especially wool, comes into its own!

The reason for this is - blocking!

Now, if you don't know what blocking is, the basic premise is that it is a technique to open out your stitches, make your edges straight, and allow the fibres to not only relax, but also sit where you want them to. And it is VERY easy!

So, you know that thing where you finish knitting and your project looks a little scrumpled from being in the project bag for so long? You might have some lace stitches or some colourwork that aren't quite sitting right, or maybe your new shawl looks more like a discarded snake-skin than the beaufitully flowing wrap it's meant to? 

Yeah - blocking is how we fix that!

So - for wool fibres, as well as alpaca, camel, silk and other similar animal fibres, you can do something called wet blocking. 

All you need are a set of those kids' playmats that look a bit like large jigsaw pieces, and some rust-proof pins. If you have pieces with long straight edges, you might also benefit from lace blocking wires too! 

(We have these for sale - check out the Blocking Mats, Blocking Pins, Pin Blockers and Blocking Wires we stock)

This video shows me blocking the Pelydr Tesni shawl, using a mixture of blocking wires, pins and blockers. 

What I don't show you in the video is how to prep this. 

So lets go through it in steps. Do this BEFORE you sew in your ends, as that can change the tension and lay of the item. 

1. Fill a basin or large bowl with warm water, I also like to add in some wool wash to soften the fibres and add some nice smells. (The Pineapple Grove is my favourite!)
2. Gently add your project to the basin and leave it to soak for 10-20mins until all the fibres are properly wet through. 
3. Carefully lift your project out of the bowl and squeeze (don't wring!) as much of the water out as you can. At this point I also like to get a large towel and wrap my project inside it and squeeze this to get some more of the moisture out. (Hint - put the rolled up towel on the floor and stand on it!)
4. Assemble your blocking mats into the size needed for your project and carefully lay your project out. 
5. Starting at one edge, first put a pin in each corner and then carefully add more pins as you move allong the edges of your project. Tip: it's normal to have to move your pins a few times as the fibres stretch and you see how the lay of it is. 
6. If you have long straight edges, consider using blocking wires as well/instead of pins so that you can get a neater finish. 
7. Leave it to dry completely. This always takes longer than you think it will, unless you're lucky enough to have a nice sunny day. 
8. Once your project is completely dry, you can then carefully remove all of the pins and sew in your ends. You should see that your stitches have opened up, that the fibres are more relaxed, and that your edges are nice and neat. 

There are a few other tips though!

1. Make sure you leave a long enough tail so that you can weave your ends in neatly. It sounds daft, but if you have a short tail, you can end up having to trim it or tie a knot rather than sewing it in.
2. When you're sewing in your ends, always do so on the back of the item, and weave it through the backs of the stitches, rather than sewing up and down through the fabric to give a less visible appearance. 
3. If you're in a rush, you can do a 'cheat's block' using a clothes steamer. I wouldn't recommend this if you aren't sure about the yarn - always test it on a small hidden part first to make sure that it doesn't harm the fibre - but assuming all is ok, lay your garment on the floor or another heat proof flat surface large enough to lay your item out fully on, and then steam it gently with the handheld clothes steamer. This doesn't work as well as a proper block by any stretch of the imagination, but if you've finished your sweater at 1:30am and you need to wear it at 9am to a function, it will do enough! 
4. Different fibres need a different method of blocking - cottons, linens etc are much better with a proper steam block. Acrylic doesn't block! 

So there you go! 

Hopefully that will help you to get some better results from your knitting and crochet! Stay tuned for the next of my top three tips coming soon!