Hi again! This issue we’re going to wrap up blocking.

Back in the fall of 2010, we talked about blocking in general and last issue I went into a bit more detail about blocking a lace shawl to shape. In this issue, we’ll touch on blocking knitted pieces to prepare them for seaming. If you haven’t already read the previous two, please take a look – I won’t be repeating myself about:

• checking whether the yarn tolerates the blocking method
• making sure you don’t turn yarns made from animal fibers into a nice piece of felt
• how to remove excess moisture from the fabric
• steam blocking
• choosing a blocking surface

When you finish knitting something that needs to be seamed together, you will – if the yarn you have knit with tolerates being put through the blocking process – want to block before seaming.

We’ve talked about several very good reasons for blocking in the previous issues – the most obvious reason it that is just makes the knitting look pretty.

The most important reason for blocking knitted pieces before seaming is to transform the knitted pieces from lumpy, curling blobs…

… into pieces that resemble the schematic of the pattern. Blocking will ensure that the points of contact for seaming – the shoulder and side seams for example – will be of an equal length. This will make seaming both easier to do and to do well.

(A word of warning: if your gauge or row count is off and the finished pieces are more than about one size off from the measurements in the schematic, blocking is unfortunately not going to help that much.)

So you’re finished binding off. Grab a ruler, some rust-proof pins and your schematic …

and head to your blocking surface with your damp knitting or a steam iron if you’re going that route. I wrote more about types of blocking and a bit about potential blocking surfaces in the columns I mention above, so be sure to check those out!

Start by pinning the piece down at one corner, then use the ruler to figure out where the next corner should be pinned.

Continue inserting pins about every two inches or so between the two corners. You may want to place the pins even closer together if the stitch pattern is openwork or lacy or in areas where the knitting would tend to curl. Then move onto the next corner…

And onwards around the entire piece.

Use a bottle of water to spray the pieces if they dry out while you’re blocking.

When you finish, you should have all the pieces neatly laid out.

A special thank you to Laura Prescott for letting me borrow this last picture! These pieces are blocked out on an actual blocking board – which has measurements built in – conveniently eliminating the need for an old beat-up ruler.

After the pieces are completely dry, remove the pins – make sure you get them all! – and starting sewing your garment up. I wrote about seaming using a mattress stitch way back in the spring 2004 issue. If you haven’t been conscientious about blocking before seaming before, you’ll be amazed at how much easier it is when all the little stitches have been whipped into shape!

Theresa has recently begun a full time job as a public health nurse and finds this cutting rather severely into her knitting-and-watching-the-farm-animals time.

She did, however, bring home an Icelandic sheep from the Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival. He and the alpacas are getting along fairly well …most of the time.