You can check out the video tutorial for this topic here.
I’ve showed you how to steam block acrylic yarn, now I will show you the less stressful method of wet and spray blocking. I say less stressful because even though I love steam blocking, it can be very scary to put that steam right next to your newly finished project that could have taken you anywhere from 2 hours to 2 months to complete. We all breathe a sigh of relief when the steam has done its job and we can put the iron away, but if you can’t bring yourself to risk your project to the steam, then these two methods are for you.
But, why do I need to block at all?
Great question! If your yarn was a scratchy acrylic, blocking will soften it. If your stitches are a little uneven, blocking can stretch them to all the same size. If one motif is smaller than the others, blocking can extend its size to match the rest. Blocking can fix tons of mistakes we make while crocheting so we don’t have to frog our project and start over.
I’m combining wet and spray blocking in this tutorial 1) because they are almost the exact same method, just done in a different order, and 2) you can see that the outcome of both are nearly identical.
First, we will begin with our two motifs.
For both types of blocking you will need a surface to pin your project to, I use blocking boards in the photos, but you can substitute with an ironing board or simple towel. You will also need water, either a spray bottle for spray blocking, or a bowl of water for wet blocking. You will also need some rust proof (very important) pins and a measuring tape if you need the project to be a certain size. Once you gather these items you are ready to begin.
Next, I pin one of my motifs to a blocking board to get it ready for spray blocking and put the other in a bowl of water to sit for about 10 minutes for wet blocking.
After my motif is pinned to the board, I get my spray bottle with normal tap water.
Next, start spraying. Don’t stop until the whole piece is saturated.
Now that it’s completely wet, you need to wait for it to completely dry.
While we wait for that one to dry, lets get back to our wet blocked motif. Pull it out of the bowl and squeeze out the excess water.
Then get out some more water using a towel.
Now you can pin the damp motif to your blocking board. Remember both of the motifs are wet so use rust proof pins. Now we wait for them to dry. Stick them out of direct sunlight to keep them from fading.
Once dry, you can unpin and marvel in their shape and feel. So much softer than the scratchy acrylic you began with!
So why would you chose one method over the other?
I usually choose whichever is easier for the size project I am blocking. Sticking a large project in a bowl of water and then removing the water can be difficult. I will usually spray block those. I will toss small projects in a bowl and let them sit. They are easy to get the excess water out and pin while damp. It’s totally up to you though which method you choose.
Do you have a preferred method of blocking? I’d love to hear about it. You can tell me all about it below!