So you are finished that beautiful piece of crochet or knitting, and, after all of your hard work, the piece looks like a crumpled bit of a yarny mess. It can be so disheartening after the hours and love that you have invested.
Blocking your piece will make a huge (and I mean massively amazing) difference in how the piece looks and also the size of what you have finished. You can see from the before and afters that blocking is time well spent.
   
Blocking can be done in a couple of ways. My favourite, for lace especially, is to soak the item and then pin it out to the size I want and let it dry overnight. This method works well with natural fibres. If I have used a synthetic fibre, I skip the soak, pin it out in the same way and steam it. I like to steam my shawls in particular so that the fibre softens and holds the stretched or pinned out shape. You do need to be careful not to overheat acrylic or you will end up with a melty, crunchy mess. Ask me how I know!
    
Both of these acrylic wraps were steamed to block.
    
If you only want to lightly block sweater pieces for example, I like to pin them out to match the length of seams and lightly steam them. This works with both natural and synthetics. You only want to release some of the curl and straighten out the stitches. Acrylics also respond well to a simple warm wash and a short spin in the dryer (not too hot) to look good.
    
These little sweaters were lightly steamed then washed.
My Vine Lace Wrap below was soaked and pinned.
    
    
After you have invested all of your time and lovely yarn to make a sweater, shawl or other beautiful item, spend a little extra time and block. You won’t be disappointed.
Have a wonderful crafty week and may all your yarn skeins pull smoothly from the centre!