A prime example of the need for blocking
I finished knitting the edges onto Nicole and tried her on and I think she's going to be a winner! Once I block her, that is. Look at the sorry state she's in now:
All rumply and bumpy, with the edges curling . . . Yuck! Now, I know that everyone always tells you to block everything, but I'm of the camp that you should block each knit in its own way. I don't believe in knitting garments and blocking them to measurement (aside from differences in pre- and post- washing gauges), and I don't block all garments. I never EVER block pieces before seaming, and I rarely hard block anything that isn't lace. I know, the shock! Horrors!
But with a piece like this one, you absolutely need to wet block before you can call it Done. I actually steamed the bottom border after working a few inches because it was curling up like crazy and bothering me, but now that it's sewn and the bands are knit on I'm going to wet block it to ensure everything looks as good as it can.
I'm very happy with this project so far and enjoyed working with the Wool Cotton, although there were knots in 4 of the 5 balls I used! I think that's excessive, especially in a yarn that's not particularly delicate. If it launders well I can definitely see using this yarn again, I love the texture of it and it feels good to knit with.
Depending on how long it takes to dry, I hope to have an FO shot soon! I found the perfect buttons today completely by accident . . .
2 Responses
Wanda
I agree, I don’t block every single piece either. I generally wash or handwash the item after knitting b/c it’s usually been drug around in my bag, so I like to wash it. When I finish lace, I like to block it aggressively.
Gina
May 14, 2007
So far, so good. I’m also of the mind that not everything needs to be blocked. Sometimes just wearing the garment is enough “blocking”.