Blocking

I seldom bother to block anything. Things usually just look okay. They're soft and knit and stretchy and they generally fall into place. Not so this Argosy scarf (free pattern on Knitty). The edges are all curled up and the squares would much better if they were squares and not parallelograms.


So I'm breaking down and blocking the thing. I haven't blocked anything in years. I pinned it down to this fabric covered board and hit it with some steam. Now I'll let it dry and see how it goes. I'd really much rather be working on this new scarf I have in my head....


Blocking was actually much more painless than I anticipated. The key was definitely to use the press board with squares marked on it. That made lining up the grids of the scarf a breeze. I also quickly figured out that if I stuck the pins in almost horizontally against the cloth of the press board I could steam right over them, and even apply a bit of pressure with the iron as I went. I'm now a blocking fool - I've already got a sweater on the board that I've been avoiding for weeks because I was so put off by the prospect of blocking. Face your fears - they're usually worse than whatever it is you're afraid of. Oh heavens - now I'm feeling philisophical - good sign it's time to get to work...