LisaH asked about blocking wool items on a separate thread. I've just come across this (http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/FEATdiyknitter.html) article from Knitty, which explains the steps really clearly.

Oh thatnks for that:D Looks like my Samus might be best being wet blocked as its aran weight - is that right do you think. Just need to find somewhere big enough to do it now especially since it said it could take a day or 2:S

LisaH xxx

Oh thatnks for that:D Looks like my Samus might be best being wet blocked as its aran weight - is that right do you think. Just need to find somewhere big enough to do it now especially since it said it could take a day or 2:S

LisaH xxx
I think either the wet block or the steam block would be the best method. The steam block would be a bit more labour intensive, but I think I'd actually favour that. I'd be worried about the wet block method pulling the cables a little flat. Then again, if you were careful to get the mesaurements exactly right, and don't be too enthusiastic about moving the cables about while the fabric's wet, it shouldn't be a problem. I reckon you're probably less of a wuss than me when it comes to these things anyway :D .

I'd also expect it to take a bit longer to dry than a day or two, especially around where the cables are. You want to make sure that those areas in particular are absolutely bone dry before you move them, as they'll be prone to getting pulled out of shape and flattening out when damp.

Good luck! Post a photo of it laying out in all its glory. Hope you've got enough pins :) .

Good luck! Post a photo of it laying out in all its glory. Hope you've got enough pins :) .

Will try - do have a wide angle setting on the camera :hihi: I do need to get some pins yes - will ordinary ones be OK or do I need anything special? Am thinking of doing it in a couple of weeks when hubby goes to Chilie/ Austrailia for work so its only me that has to negotioate it expanse:-o

LisaH xxx

Will try - do have a wide angle setting on the camera :hihi: I do need to get some pins yes - will ordinary ones be OK or do I need anything special? Am thinking of doing it in a couple of weeks when hubby goes to Chilie/ Austrailia for work so its only me that has to negotioate it expanse:-o

LisaH xxx
I hope you've got a list of Australian yarn shops prepared for him to visit while he's out there, and another lists of the things to bring back... :D .

As for pins, make sure you get the glass-headed ones, you know the ones that have little coloured heads? I was looking at them in Hobbycraft last week, and I discovered that they make some which look very similar but are plastic-headed. They'd be alright for the wet-blocking, but if you do steam-blocking, I wouldn't want to think of the little bits of melted plastic dripping onto the yarn.

Get the best you can. They won't rust and they're less likely to bend. I blocked out a Colinette throw on the study floor a while back (after removing copious amounts of cat hair and shutting the door to the little buggers), using some fairly cheap pins. The result was a nicely blocked throw, but a box full of bent pins.

When you pin, do you just stick the point in to the fabric (like spearing it into place) or in and out again then? Think I might just do the sleeves and the body separately or it will cost me a fortune in pins:D Ive used the plastic headed ones before and forgot when I has pressing some dressmaking - whoops it was not pretty:D

LisaH xxx

When you pin, do you just stick the point in to the fabric (like spearing it into place) or in and out again then? Think I might just do the sleeves and the body separately or it will cost me a fortune in pins:D Ive used the plastic headed ones before and forgot when I has pressing some dressmaking - whoops it was not pretty:D

LisaH xxx
Yes, imagine the pins are like spears and stick them through the fabric into the blocking surface below (through the centre of a stitch, or between two stitches, being careful not to go through the middle of the yarn itself). You need to place them roughtly every inch or so on curved bits, but you can get away with them being a bit further apart on the straight bits.

Here (http://sweetgeorgia.planetfishdesign.com/archives/images/2005/03/2005-03-14_highgateDSC_0076.jpg) is a picture I've just found of how the pins should look.

Make sure that the edges aren't pulled too tight, because as the wool contracts as it dries, there's a danger you'll end up with a scalloped edge instead of a straight edge as the fabric dries out. The fabric won't be able to contract properly where the pins are, hence the scalloping in the pinned areas.

Thanks - that what I thought:) I do like that blocking board in the piccy - bet it was expensive.

LisaH xxx

All this talk of blocking has reminded me.....

Samus - that will require blocking next week - is still worrying me. I have found a lovely piece of hardboard in my garage which is the size I want and plan on covering it in cork tiles to make a blocking board. Was wondering do you think it would be better to put a towel down between the cork and the cardi? What I think I would really like is a sew EZ blocking board http://www.yarn-store.com/blocking-supplies.html but cant find one in the UK and shipping from the states I think is going to be silly:(

Im still in 2 minds about full wet blocking or spritzing - Knitty suggests for heavyweight yarns to full wet block but Vogue suggests spritzing - Im confused :confused: I obviously dont want to flatten the cabelling, but will a spritz do the trick at getting through the yarn? Im guessing with that technique you pin out then spritz! Ive read somewhere about having a fan going over your work while its drying to speed up the blocking - has anyone tried it. Im worried about it taking days to dry and smelling musty:S

Luckily a quick measure shows that it seems to generally be the right size so not too much work in blocking - but Im still scared

LisaH xxx

...Was wondering do you think it would be better to put a towel down between the cork and the cardi? What I think I would really like is a sew EZ blocking board ...
That is exactly the blocking board I want. I haven't investigated whether that or something similar is available over here, but I haven't come across one similar while browsing the online shops - and I do a lot of browsing :D . You're right though, I bet it would be absolutely astromically expensive to get one sent over from the US.

As for towel or no towel dilemma, I'm in two minds. On the one hand, I blocked Polly on a cork board with no towel beneath it. BUT 1) I pinned it out dry and steam-blocked, so it wasn't as wet as if it had been wet blocked, and 2) it's quite a small, light piece so there wasn't much scope for any serious amounts of water to be absorbed anyway.

As Samus is heavy and thickish, there's the potential for quite a bit of water to leach out of it while blocking, so the towel would be useful. However, if you're very careful to remove as much of the water as you possibly can by wrapping it several changes of towels before pinning it out, it should just be damp.

I do remember reading somewhere - it might have been in the knitty article - that the use of towels with heavier fabrics can make it prone to mold because it takes longer to dry the towel as well as the garment, hence the musty smell, especially if the fabric is more wet than just damp when you pin it out. I've never tried the fan method. Wouldn't it involve keeping the fan going while it dried out though?

The blocking boards I've seen have a surface similar to cork tiles, but a little less porous. You don't cover those in a towel, obviously, as it would obscure the guidelines. So I'm coming down in favour of no towel.

Mmm. What to do? Right. My gut feeling is to not wet block, just because I would be concerned about flattening the cables, or pulling it out of shape. I would instead pin out the pieces while dry, directly on to the cork. I would either do a spritz, or do a very careful steam. Maybe you could do a spritz and a steam, so reducing the amount of time you have to expose the yarn to the steam?

Do you have a test swatch that you could pin out and do a test steam on, to see if there is any adverse effect on the yarn? I'm almost certain it should be fine, but with wool you never can tell how susceptible it is to felting. It shouldn't, because there's no agitation involved, and you'd be careful not to touch it until it was dry.

As for the sizing; that's great. I usually have to pull a bit to get the measurements. Don't forget that the blocking process is also a chance to straighten up the stitches, align the rows properly and generally smooth out the effects of having the fabric all bundled up while you knit it.

Hope this long, waffling, rambling reply is at least a little helpful :) .

Thanks for that Hecate:D

Had another thought about the blocking board - Morrissons (I have just noticed) have camping bed rolls (made from very high density foam/ neoprene type stuff) for £2.99 or £5 for 2. This I think will be cheaper than cork tiles - it should work shouldnt it.....what do you think? I might even be able to marker pen some guide lines on - not sure:S

LisaH xxx

That is exactly the blocking board I want. I haven't investigated whether that or something similar is available over here, but I haven't come across one similar while browsing the online shops - and I do a lot of browsing :D . You're right though, I bet it would be absolutely astromically expensive to get one sent over from the US..

Its lovely isnt it - I WANT the large one that folds in half when you are not using it:D

I've never tried the fan method. Wouldn't it involve keeping the fan going while it dried out though?.

I think the idea is that it accelerates evaporation - so I should think you could turn it off if you like - my blocking is going to have to be done in the bedroom as thats the only big enough space Ive got that wont regularly get trampled on - so a fan could be on during the day...Im hoping:D


Thanks
LisaH xxx

Thanks for that Hecate:D

Had another thought about the blocking board - Morrissons (I have just noticed) have camping bed rolls (made from very high density foam/ neoprene type stuff) for £2.99 or £5 for 2. This I think will be cheaper than cork tiles - it should work shouldnt it.....what do you think? I might even be able to marker pen some guide lines on - not sure:S

LisaH xxx
I reckon that would work. Maybe you could sneak a pin or two into Morrisons and see how firmly they stick into it. You need something with a bit of grab.

I like the marker idea too, but be careful about which one you choose to do the marking with. Even the permanent ones can be prone to flaking.

Hubbys trip is being cut short meaning hes back on Monday - hurrah:) Ive not started blocking - boo:( In a panic I decided to finish the blocking board today and stood out in the garden armed with spray glue, hardboard and cork tiles. Note to self - DO NOT USE SPRAY GLUE IN THE WIND:? :suspect: :hihi:

I now almost have a blocking board - need to trim it when its dry, but it looks like it might do the job. Ive decided to have a go at blocking Samus using the spritzing technique. Im going to have a go after the boys are in bed tomorrow night - wish me luck:D

LisaH xxx

I was thinking of you today because I am about 10 rows from finishing my noro and obviously the next stage is blocking. I will watch this space in earnest:wave: good luck

Quick blocking questions - the water I use in the spray, should it be cold or warm? How will I know its properly dry?

LisaH - armed with trimmed board, pins galore and sleeves for tonight (will have a go at doing pinned out photos)

I'd go for tepid water.

You'll have to keep giving the fabric a good feel with the back of your hand to test whether it's dry or not. I tend to leave it a day after it feels dry to the touch, just in case. If there's even the slightest bit of dampness to it, you run the risk of it curling at the edges and losing a bit of its 'blockedness' (for want of a much better word :) ). Looking forward to seeing the photos.

Have fun ;) .

Oh yes forgot to ask - how wet should I wet it if you know what I mean:? Cant do it until 8pm at the earliest so want to be prepared:cool:

LisaH xxx

Oh yes forgot to ask - how wet should I wet it if you know what I mean:? Cant do it until 8pm at the earliest so want to be prepared:cool:

LisaH xxx
Dampen it really well. You need to make sure that the water's got into all the fibres. As it's fairly thick fabric, I'd give it a couple of good sprays, leaving a gap of ten minutes or so between sprayings. If there are any dry bits (where stitches overlap on decreases etc), the blocking won't be as effective.

A caveat: Don't get it so wet that it's saturated. If you were using the immerse in water method, the fabric would be left to soak til all the little bubbles stopped appearing, showing that all the fibres had taken up the water. But, then you'd be careful to squeeze out all the excess water by wrapping it in lots of changes of towels.

It's the 'just emerged from the towels' sort of state that you're going for; thoroughly and completely dampened, but not saturated.

Thanks for that - Im hoping that the wool will take up the water ok and theres not a lanolin - water repelling thing going on:)

LisaHxxx - back later hopefully with piccies

OK so here goes:

My blocking board seems to work really well and the cork tiles (£5 from Homebase) hold the pins securely:D I did a trial with pens on an offcut to see whether I might be able to put some guidelines on at another time and actually biro works really well - not done it yet though.

So here is a picture of Samus sleeves (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/lisahxxx/Picture005.jpg) in their full pinned out glory prior to being spritzed.

I have also done close up images of the sleeve caps to show the differences in cast off techniques. This (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/lisahxxx/Picture003.jpg) sleeve was done using the standard cast off technique - notice how steppy it is. This (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/lisahxxx/Picture004.jpg) sleeve however was cast off using a sloping cast off which I had never heard of before and it really makes the whole outline much smoother. With the sloping cast off basically you dont knit the last stitch of the row before the cast off row - i.e. just slip it, but use this slipped stitch as your first stitch to cast off. You lot probably all do it this was but its a revelation to me:D

I have now wet the sleeves - strangely one sleeve is absorbing water much better than the other one - one skein must have had more residual lanolin left I guess:suspect: Ill probably squirt it again before I go to bed and see how it goes.

LisaH xxx

I hadn't heard of that cast-off technique either, but now I have, I'll definitely use it. The only minor problem I can think of, for me anyway, would be that I sometimes use the 'steppy' bits to match up two pieces of knitted fabric when I'm seaming. You know how when the shaping matches on two pieces that are to be joined? Sometimes it helps to see exactly where that shaping is.

Talking of casting off, do you have a problem with the very last stitch in that it always looks a little loose? It particularly seems to affect the row underneath for some reason. I do manage to make the looseness disappear (usually) as I'm weaving in the ends, but it would be nice for it not to be there in the first place.

I hadn't heard of that cast-off technique either, but now I have, I'll definitely use it. The only minor problem I can think of, for me anyway, would be that I sometimes use the 'steppy' bits to match up two pieces of knitted fabric when I'm seaming. You know how when the shaping matches on two pieces that are to be joined? Sometimes it helps to see exactly where that shaping is.

Talking of casting off, do you have a problem with the very last stitch in that it always looks a little loose? It particularly seems to affect the row underneath for some reason. I do manage to make the looseness disappear (usually) as I'm weaving in the ends, but it would be nice for it not to be there in the first place.

It was in the Vogue book - thought Id have a go. I do see what you are saying about using the steppiness in making up:)

Yes I get that with the last stitch too - dont know how to get rid of that:?

LisaH xxx

It was in the Vogue book...
You can tell how thoroughly I read my books, can't you? :hihi:

Talking of books, I've just reserved this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1843403277/qid=1148591734/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/203-1729911-8155907) at the library. I think it's a collection of all the Harmony stitch guides in one volume. New for 2006. I shall report back with a review.

I thought I might have a go at designing some socks, so a stitch pattern book was exactly what I was looking for.

That looks good - you shall have to let me know. Our employee development scheme restarts again in July:D

LisaH xxx

http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/misc.php might explain a bit about the rise in cast off at the left hand edge, look at the video of a small project. Is that what you mean Hecate?

http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/misc.php might explain a bit about the rise in cast off at the left hand edge, look at the video of a small project. Is that what you mean Hecate?
Ooh, that's new isn't it? Thanks for pointing that out; I shall watch it tomorrow and report back :) .

Here (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/lisahxxx/Picture007.jpg) is the body of Samus pinned out for blocking:D Ive just spritzed it and its looking much wetter now.

The sleeves are now looking lovely and flat and the same size and shape as each other - blocking is great:thumbsup: I decided as my blocking time was cut short that I would use a fan playing over the damp sleeves during the first day and Im sure it sped up the drying - probably by a day:D

So once this is blocked then its making it up - yuk:(

LisaH xxx

Bloody hell, Lisa, that's amazing! It's massive! And you've got all the pins evenly spaced too :) .

I love that blocking board; excellent idea to use the cork tiles. I'm definitely going to go down that route when I have to block something a bit bigger than what I've been knitting of late.

I quite like seaming stuff - apart from the sleeves. There's always some fiddling involved in getting the buggers to fit properly.

Quick tip: don't do what I did and start sewing the long seam of the sleeves from the arm pit; start from the wrist edge. That way, if the length of each side of the sleeve is a bit off, it'll be hidden in the arm hole seam. Not that your sleeves would ever be off, of course... :D

Bloody hell, Lisa, that's amazing! It's massive! And you've got all the pins evenly spaced too :) .

I love that blocking board; excellent idea to use the cork tiles. I'm definitely going to go down that route when I have to block something a bit bigger than what I've been knitting of late.

I quite like seaming stuff - apart from the sleeves. There's always some fiddling involved in getting the buggers to fit properly.

Quick tip: don't do what I did and start sewing the long seam of the sleeves from the arm pit; start from the wrist edge. That way, if the length of each side of the sleeve is a bit off, it'll be hidden in the arm hole seam. Not that your sleeves would ever be off, of course... :D

Yes it is massive and it took ages to pin out - the whole of Casualty actually. Ive just noticed in the picture that Widget (the cat) is casting an eye over my work :ihi:

Im hoping that this blocking lark makes the sewing up bit easier too:) The main difference between this and stuff Ive done before is that normally I would sew together the shoulders then insert the sleeves then sew up the sleeves and sideseam and I cant do that here as there is no sideseam:?

LisaH xxx