Hi there,
So I’m still new at knitting…this is the second sweater I’ve knit, but the first I’m knitting with a circular needle (not in the round).
The sweater is 100% wool.
I forgot that the pattern says that it is supposed to be 20 sts = 4" BLOCKED…without blocking, mine is already that. I sadly, did not knit a swatch.
But I assume blocking will stretch the sweater out right? But can blocking shrink a sweater too? If not, I’m going to felt it a bit. I heard felting shrinks a piece by 25% to 35% percent though right? So if my sweater is calculated to be 42 inches (at the hem/waist) wouldn’t that shrink to like 30 inches or so? That’s not good. I want the chest to be 40 inches, but I don’t know how big the chest is now yet because I’ve only knit up to the waist.
Is there a way to control how much shrinks during felting? I meant felting AFTER I’ve knit the piece up by the way.
Blocking won’t make it smaller unless the yarn shrinks. If you have a swatch or can make one with the leftover yarn to see what yours does. However. you don’t have stretch it out to ‘block’ it. Wetting or washing it then laying flat to dry, patting it into the 42" measurement should work just fine. I wouldn’t recommend trying to felt it, you can’t always control it well and you can’t really unravel it to reknit if it felts. You could try sewing the seams another stitch in though that would make it bulky if it’s a worsted or heavier weight.
BTW, most sweaters fit and look a little better if they’re knit slightly smaller than you actually measure. Unless you want a looser comfy fitting one.
Hi there, thanks for your response
But will blocking make an already too-large piece even larger?
I am also planning to dye the wool sweater (cardigan) a darker color after I knit it, so would that make it larger?
I actually took the part I knit so far off the needles (the needles bunch the stitches up together so it looks smaller) and put them on a string to see how big it really looks when it is laid out and folded-in like a cardigan would be. Since it is in a ribbed pattern ( p2, k6- k2, p6), it does not look too big when it isn’t stretched. But that’s the waist. It is just when you stretch it out that it looks big. Blocking won’t stretch it out right?
If it does, then I will skip the blocking even if it won’t look as professionally-made. (I’m no pro anyways!)
If dying it a darker color will stretch it out, I will also skip that step.
See blocking has 2 meanings - one is ‘stretch the heck out of your item and pin it’ which really only needs to be done with lace, or a too small item. The other definitions is wet it and lay flat to dry shaping to the size you need. And that’s what you do when you wash it too. Since you have the sts on a string at the moment, why don’t you just do that now. Wet it, squeeze the extra water out of it, roll it in a towel and just lay it out flat to dry. Make sure when you hold it while it’s wet that it doesn’t droop or stretch. You might be surprised that it doesn’t get any bigger, or not very much. Even if you don’t block it when your done (and not everything needs it either) you are going to have to wash it someday.
Measure what you’ve got and determine if it measures out a lot big or just right. Really if it’s too big, it’s actually easier to reknit it smaller, it goes faster the 2nd time; that’s what I do when something isn’t the size I want.
Hi there,
If I block it now…wouldn’t I have to block the rest of the stitches later? Won’t that make the ones I already knit now look different than the stitches later since I’ll be technically blocking the stitches I have now 2 times?
Sighs I finished knitting 1 whole ball (like 228 yards) of yarn…it is an awful time to restart.
If it says that measurements are from blocked stitches, does that mean that I must knit a swatch first then block to know the measurements unblocked? (kind of like thinking backwards)
No it doesn’t matter, once the rest of it is blocked it’ll look the same as the first section. It’s always a good idea to wash and lay out your swatch the same way you do the finished sweaters. Some yarns stretch, some fill in, you never know what they’ll do (the first time you use one) until you get them wet. You’re really not very far into it if you’ve only used 1 ball of yarn, you have what - 3 or 4 more…? Better to figure out what to do now and reknit if you have to, than worry about the size all through knitting the whole sweater only to find out that it’s too big. A lot of people suggest knitting a sleeve as a swatch, working about 6" or so, and blocking that to see how it’s going to turn out. That way if you need to change needles or the pattern size you’re not too far into it.
Hi
So I put the piece in the water for just a few several seconds, took it out and squeezed out the excess water and laid it out to dry and shaped it up a bit…it looks exactly the same in terms of size. The only thing is that the yarn [I]feels[/I] a bit different…it feels softer and that it looks a tad bit fuzzier. Hmmm…the stitches are still pretty much 5 sts to 1 inch. It actually looks the right size when the purls are in the back and “unstretched”. You see, it is in a rib pattern of (k6, p2).
is it too late to start doing that when I’m 7 inches in and the cardigan is supposed to be 26 1/2" long from the shoulder down? I tried comparing it to garments I have that have pockets and I’m afraid it is. However, the one I compared it to is only 20 inches long instead of 26 1/2".
Is there a correct position for pockets? Is my only reasonable option to add patch pockets instead? I really don’t want to unravel anything if I don’t have to.
