Steamer?

I just finished blocking a sweater, but as soon as I unpinned it then edges started curling again. Of course I still need to knit the front bands. But I am wondering if I need to invest in a hand steamer. Any thoughts?

Is the stitch pattern stockinette stitch? It has such a strong tendency to curl or even flip a border.
What kind of yarn did you use, wool, acrylic, a blend or something else?

Arne and Carlos use this steam blocking for wool garments using an iron and damp towel. I’ve never been brave enough to try it but they are certainly experienced knitters.

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It’s 100% acrylic. I just finished one side of border which is done in garter stitch. Then finish the right side and then attach sleeves and I’m done with first sweater. I’m hoping that it will lay flat.

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This is the video I’ve used for small acrylic projects. It works for a good while and then should be re-done.

I usually use Conair Turbo Extreme steamer for that. I would not say it is great for travel due to its size and weight. I like the fact that you can read here, the steaming clothes also help remove germs. This works well on sweaters or sweatshirts that may not iron well. In general, it works pretty well at removing wrinkles but it does take a while.
For the first-time use, you may need to wait a bit longer than it said until steam comes out (i tough it was defective). After that, it works fine.

If you have a steam iron and are careful you can use it. I have a steamer intended for cleaning that I sometimes use for steaming knits. I expect the bands might fix the issue as long as the tension is right. Are you picking up stitches along the edge and then knitting in rows of garter stitch? Too many stitches picked up will result in a ruffling effect, too few and it will pull and pucker. I learned here that generally speaking picking up 3 stitches for 4 rows of knitting is a good starting point. Sometimes I need to adjust that.

I’ve used the wet towel and iron ‘spa treatment’ on a steeked cardigan knit in 100% wool. I’d gleaned most of my info and courage for doing steeks from A&E so figured in for a penny, in for a pound. It was a great way to finish the knitting! Faster and easier than pinning out the wet piece. Not recommended for acrylics perhaps but it might be fine if the iron isn’t too hot. I intend to try it on acrylic someday. It’s on the never ending, ever growing list of things to try. And getting the iron and ironing board out is a pita. lol

I tried using a purl as the second and next to last stitches on the RS of stockinette and knitting the purl on the WS for a column of purls on the WS and I think that helped tame the flipping band.

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