Blocking
Blocking is the final step of washing, dampening, and shaping your finished knitting to relax the fibers, even out stitches, and secure final dimensions.
Category: BasicsExplanation
Blocking is an important finishing step that many forget. After you have finished knitting, you wet the garment (either by washing it or spraying it with water), shape it to the correct size and form, and let it dry flat. Blocking evens out irregular stitches, makes patterns pop, and gives the garment its final shape and size. This is especially important for lace, Fair Isle, and other patterns. Many yarn types change significantly upon blocking.
Also known as: Wet blocking, Dressing
How to block
Soak the piece in lukewarm water with a little wool wash for about 20 minutes. Squeeze — never wring — out the water, roll the piece in a towel and step on the roll to press out as much moisture as possible. Lay it flat on blocking mats, shape it to the measurements the pattern gives, and let it dry completely.
For shawls and lace, pins or blocking wires are used to stretch the points out. There, blocking is not cosmetic: it is what opens the pattern and makes the eyelets visible.
What blocking can and cannot do
Blocking evens out irregular stitches, persuades edges to lie flat, and lets you adjust dimensions by an inch or two. It cannot rescue a garment knit in substantially the wrong size, and on superwash wool and synthetics the shape does not hold as well — superwash in particular tends to grow again with wear.
Common mistakes
- Wringing the piece out, which felts it or pulls it out of shape.
- Stretching further than the yarn can take, leaving the fabric thin and lifeless.
- Hanging a wet wool garment to dry — the weight of the water pulls it out of shape.
Norwegian Term Reference
Reading Norwegian patterns? See the matching term on Strikketips.no:
Keywords
- blocking
- fabric finishing
- shaping knitting
Frequently asked questions
Does everything need blocking?
Wool and natural fibers almost always benefit. Acrylic barely responds to water and needs careful steaming instead. Shawls and lace must be blocked to look finished at all.
How long does it take?
Allow one to two days at room temperature. The piece must be bone dry before you move it, or the shape collapses again.