Why won’t wash & dry yarn block.I’m gonna sew my baby sweater together and the edges are all curled and I thought I’d block it first then sew it together.
Ingrid
The way I understand it is that the purpose of blocking is to change the shape of something. Acrylic yarns won’t hold a new shape the way natural fibers will. I’m not sure of the science behind it, though.
I do know that seaming will get rid of the curl–it’s not strong enough to withstand that.
You could wet it and pin it, or put the pieces under a wet cloth to let it dry and it will be somewhat flatter. If you think this will make it easier to seam, then by all means do it. It’s just not essential.
For example, I’ve knit Fair Isle sweaters out of shetland wool. Because of the nature of the yarn and the pattern, blocking is a must to get the final shape. Now when I wash them, I can lay them flat to dry and for some mysterious reason, they don’t revert back to the pre-blocked size.
If you re-wet a previously blocked piece of acrylic knitting and let it dry naturally, it will curl up again. I guess this is what they mean when they say acrylic won’t block.
Thanks again 