I am nearly done with my first adult sweater. I used this pattern and Lion Wool Ease yarn. It is 80% Acrylic and 20% Wool. I think it would benefit from some blocking, but am wondering what the best method for this blend of yarn would be? Can I steam it? Should I just wet block it? Is there another method you would recommend?
Also, what do you all use to block your items on? Since this sweater is knit all in one piece I need a pretty large area to block it. Would those foam mat things be a good choice?
I generally use a spray bottle so that it doesn’t get soaked, but still blocks well. So I would pin it, or us a wire block, or if you have the time and want to expend the effort, you can make a bust of the person who is going to be wearing it and use that to block it to their proportions. Then take a spray bottle filled with water and spray it down so that it gets wet but doesn’t soak it. Then just let it dry on its own.
You may not get the best blocking results though with an 80% acrylic fiber
Acrylic yarn usually only needs washing and drying to even out the stitches, generally after sewing the pieces together. Are your edges wonky that you think you should block before seaming?
Not really wonky, they are just rolling some. I just wondered what you were supposed to do. The pattern doesn’t say to block, so maybe I don’t need to?
I never block acrylics or blends and only rarely do I block wools. It seems to flatten out the stitches and I don’t like the results. So it’s not really necessary.