The Magic of Blocking

One of my favourite parts of knitting is blocking.  Blocking is a method of stretching and shaping a finished piece to reach the dimensions suggested in the pattern.  It also makes your stitches look and nicer and appear more even. Lace especially needs to be blocked to open up the design to show off all those lovely stitches.  

To demonstrate what I mean have a look at my Playground Shawl by Justyna Lorkowska knit in Caterpillargreen Yarns. This pattern alternates grey garter stitch rows with colour rows, knit in a easy to follow lace pattern.  It looked quite nice prior to blocking but a bit small.

Before

But then I blocked it.  The shawl grew after blocking and the lace just opened up and looked so much more attractive. Have a look:

After

Here's a few other shawls, that I knit, which really show off the magic of blocking:

Algiers by Kirsten Kapur:

Before

After

 And finally, Brickless by Martina Behm.

Before

After

I especially love blocking lace sweaters and cardigans.  I find that when I knit these kind of patterns I often worry that my F.O. is going to be too small.  But after blocking the lace opens up and size is no longer a concern.  For example, look at Lake Effect by Amy Miller:

Before

Look at the difference below!  The lace looked so much better and the size was just what I aiming for.

After

There are lots of great videos on how to block your knits.  I hope I convinced you to try it out if you have never attempted it before.  You won't be sorry.

I wonder what I can block next?