I know a lot of you (including me) do not enjoy or understand the reason for blocking your finished knit, crochet and woven pieces. I have always been one of those people who avoided it if possible. Now I find myself doing it more for numerous reasons. In researching this blog article, I found some excellent reasons to start blocking all my finished pieces as well as gauge swatches.
One reason is to make sure all your little ends that you have so painstakingly taken the time to weave in will become secure during the blocking process. Reason two - it will help set the stitches. Reason three - your swatch gauge might change sizes if blocked. This is very important when knitting or crocheting a garment to a specific size. Reason four has become very obvious to me now that I use a couple of continuous weave looms - it will even out the tension and make those lovely shawls, stoles and scarves look like they weren't woven for use by a lopsided human. My scarves no longer look like a slightly ruffled parallelogram.
Now that I've accepted blocking as a way of life, I have started looking for tools to make it easier. Fortunately one of those needs was provided by my Mom, who was given a slightly padded blocking board with the grid printed right on the the fabric cover of the board. Thanks, Mom!
Now on to some amazing tools from 7 Yaks Design. Lynne sent me these wonderful Mitten Blockers.
One reason is to make sure all your little ends that you have so painstakingly taken the time to weave in will become secure during the blocking process. Reason two - it will help set the stitches. Reason three - your swatch gauge might change sizes if blocked. This is very important when knitting or crocheting a garment to a specific size. Reason four has become very obvious to me now that I use a couple of continuous weave looms - it will even out the tension and make those lovely shawls, stoles and scarves look like they weren't woven for use by a lopsided human. My scarves no longer look like a slightly ruffled parallelogram.
Now that I've accepted blocking as a way of life, I have started looking for tools to make it easier. Fortunately one of those needs was provided by my Mom, who was given a slightly padded blocking board with the grid printed right on the the fabric cover of the board. Thanks, Mom!
Now on to some amazing tools from 7 Yaks Design. Lynne sent me these wonderful Mitten Blockers.
Aren't they fabulous! They are made from acrylic so you never have to worry about them warping the way wooden ones could. And the thumb pieces do double duty as WPI gauges with a one inch gauge one one side and a half-inch gauge on the other. Even better is the New and Improved Mitten Blockers set in her etsy shop. The new ones have cute heart cutouts which have been turned into needle gauges and a diz for pulling your roving. Lynne also has three sizes of sock blockers, leg and yoga warmer blockers, and wrist warmer blockers which all double as various types of gauges. There are also some beautiful snowflake needle gauges which would make a nice gift item for your next swap. Also in acrylic are some beautiful spindles and a strand holder for your spinning (I just ordered one for myself).
7 Yaks Design is one of those lovely little shops that carries almost everything a spinner and/or knitter may need including yarns, fibers, tools, needles and hooks, felted toys, beads and jewelry. You must stop in just for a peek at Lynne's unique creative vision.
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