Tip of the week: Use pins and wires to help block lace

 

Lace seems to be what most knitters associate with blocking. It generally requires a particular blocking method and some tools to get the best results.

A lace project rarely looks that great when it comes off the needles – it’s usually a bit scrunched up rather than looking floaty and ethereal.
 

To turn it into the finished item you will need something to pin your shawl out on, a lot of pins and if possible some blocking wires.

A lot of people use foam matts as the base for their blocking and I recommend T-pins – these a more robust than sewing pins and easy to see as you adjust your piece.

Collect your pins, wires, matts, measuring tape etc before you do anything else – juggling wet knitting while you look for the measuring tape isn’t that much fun.

Blocking wires are often the item that make people nervous. They are simply flexible wire rods that you can thread through your knitting. The main type are straight and unsurprisingly very helpful when you want to block one or more straight edge – thread them through your straight edge and then use a few pins to place each edge. You can also find finer wires that naturally sit in a curve.

The first step in the wet blocking process is to get your piece wet. Soak it in warm water – and no rinse wool wash if you want – for at least 15 minutes.

Once your knitting has soaked, lay a towel on a flat surface. Gently lift the knitting out of the water – let water drain off but DO NOT wring it out. Gently put your knitting on the towel keeping it as flat as possible. Roll the towel to create a knitting swiss roll and then gently squeeze it to draw the water out of your lace. You will end up with a damp but not dripping piece of knitting where the fibres have been thoroughly wetted through.

Then you are ready to lay out your knitting on your blocking surface. I generally start by threading the wires through the straight edges and pinning those in place then I work on curves, the points on edges etc.
 

Here I want the stocking stitch section to have straight edges,
so I’ve run a wire along at that point and then I am using pins
beyond that to open the lace border with a pin at the top
of each “leaf”.

 

 On this curved shawl I used wires for the straight side of the
semicircle and then pinned the curve at the halfway and then
the quarter way point, and so on, to help get the curve right.
 

Take your time to get the shape right and your lace opened nicely - you may move some pins several times. Then leave it to dry.
.
Don’t remove the pins or wires until you are sure your shawl is dry.

Tip of the Week: Don't think of blocking as stretching

Be warned this is one of my hobby horses.

I often hear or read: “I have never blocked my knitting.”

Quite frankly I don’t believe this.

I don’t believe that there is anyone who has neither reshaped a damp piece of knitting nor ever washed a knitted item.

The problem is a common misconception the “blocking” always involves wires, pins and extreme stretching. In fact, blocking is a general term for getting your knitted pieces wet – by soaking, steaming, spraying with water or covering with wet cloths – and then shaping it. The shaping could be a small adjustment to get straight edges or persuade you stocking stitch to unroll, or it could be more aggressive to open up a lace pattern.

There are lots of good reasons to block and they are all about getting a great finish to your project:

• Making your pieces the right shape
• Opening up or evening out your stitches – for example gentle blocking can really improve the look of colourwork

 

The crown of the hat has been steamed to even out  the
stitches and dried over a curved surface

• Letting your cables bloom.
• Opening up lace to create the final fine fabric

Blocking changed the Firebird shawl from the top pic to the bottom

There are several ways to block:

• Wash your knitting (following ball band instructions) and lay it out flat, gently adjusting it for size.
• Pin your pieces to shape on a foam board or a folded towel and stray with water or steam (I recommend a travel steamer). Then leave to dry.
• Pin out and cover with damp cloths, letting the moisture soak into to the knitting and then leaving to dry
• Using a steam iron to steam your pieces through a damp cloth. Note, always make sure the knitting is covered by the cloth and never touch your steam iron to the cloth, let alone the knitting.
• Wet blocking by soaking your pieces and pinning out – more on this tomorrow.

Personally, I tend towards steam or wet blocking because of the fibres and projects I choose.
How you block will depend on various factors:

• Fibres – wool has lots of spring so can take some aggressive stretching and wet blocking but this would distort cotton or bamboo yarns. Acrylic yarns don’t like too much heat – so steam from a greater distance.
• Stitches – take care not to over stretch of flatten cables. On the other hand, lace stitches need opening up so take more blocking and pinning out.
• The project – how much reshaping does your project need. A lace panel in a sweater will need to be opened out but you may not need/want to stretch you piece as much as a lace shawl where you will want a very light fabric.

And a big note. Blocking will even out stitches, it will not make you item fit I you’ve knitted the wrong size (well not without causing other problems).

If you are not sure what the best way to block your piece is, test various approaches on tension squares or extra swatches – see, that tension square is coming in useful yet again.
 

Tip of the week: Working with charts

 

There will always be some people who don't enjoy working from charts because of how their brains process instructions but for everyone else they are a useful tool for knitting a pattern or for checking it if you prefer using the written instructions. So it is worth understanding how they work.

A chart is basically a picture of your knitting using coloured blocks or symbols.
 

Colourwork charts are the simplest version of charts, in terms of seeing the picture. Each square represents a stitch and they are arranged in rows. On right side rows you read the chart from right to left. If you think of all your stitches being on the left needle, you will work along them from right to left. Wrong side rows are read from left to right - you are knitting back the other directions. If you are working in the round all your rows are right side rows, so you always read the chart from right to left on every round.

Lace charts are the ones people usually find harder to get their heads round, but they are still a picture. The symbols are designed to match the stitches they represent. For example, a yarnover is represented by a circle which matches an eyelet. A k2tog decrease slopes to the right and in a chart it is shown by a line leaning the same direction.

The picture below is of the pattern created by the lace chart above. You can hopefully see the same lines of eyelets and the sloped lines of the decreases.
 

The red box on the chart is the one thing that makes the knitting look different from the chart. The box represents the repeat of the pattern whereas you will see all the repeats in your work. But the chart should at the very least help you to see what shapes your lace should be making.

Why not try working with this chart and pattern - A Bench in the Clearing - or some of my other shawl or accessory patterns, to practice working with charts. There's 15% off all my patterns on Payhip until 24 November with the code SHAWL1511.

 

Tip of the week: Choosing your first lace project

 

Who says that lace has to be knitted in superfine laceweight yarn?
 

Yes, that will create a a very fine floaty item, but it isn't the only way to knit lace. You can use lace pattern in any yarn - for example this top I  designed for Knitting Magazine features a lace pattern knitted with two strands of a cotton bamboo DK.
 

In fact if you are completely new to lace, I recommend going for a DK or a 4-ply pattern so you can concentrate more on getting the hang of the techniques than worrying about tiny needle or seeing fine yarn. 

And while I generally say lace can be worked in any yarn you like, I would recommend avoiding something hairy like mohair for an early lace project because it is harder to see the lines of decrease and it can be a real pain to unpick, and most people will find the need to unpick when starting out with lace knitting.

If you need help with lace or any other knitting techniques, I can help. Find out more here.

 

Magazine pattern: Fun with shrugs

There's a new issue of Knitting magazine is out.

It's where you can find Diamond my new shrug design in King Cole Superfine Alpaca Chunky.

I've been playing with construction again. This starts from the centre of the diamond lace panel on the back and then is worked outwards for the sleeves and rib band. Most of the time it is worked in the round with some short row shaping, so it is an interesting make without seaming.

The pattern is a very relaxed fit coming in two sizes with advice of adjusting it to your preferences.

This is the first time I've worked with this yarn but I will be using it again. It is beautifully soft and great value.

Meanwhile the shrug sample is back with me and I must remember to take some pictures before I am tempted to snuggle up in it.

Tip of the Week: Life lines

Life lines are something the you most commonly hear mentioned when talking about lace knitting but I would use one in any knitting project where I wanted to protect my work so far.

You can put a life line anywhere in your knitting by threading a blunt tapestry needle with sewing cotton and threading it through every stitch in a row.
 

You don't need to take your stitches off the needle to do this but be careful not to thread your cotton through any stitch markers.
 

Once your thread is through all the stitches just ignore your lifeline and work on with your knitting.
 

If you get to the end of your work without needing to go back you can just pull the cotton thread out. But if you do make a mistake above the life line you will not be able rip back beyond your life line so the work you are happy with is protected.
 

This is why I am such a fan and recommend using a life line anywhere you are happy with your work so far and are about to start a new stitch pattern, colourwork section, shaping or anything else where you think you could go wrong. 

I guess I've just added a reel of sewing cotton to your knitting bag essentials.