Why should I block your designs in crochet?
If you’re blocking your work, you’re redistributing the stress on your piece, in a good way. Some stitches will hold a bit more tension compared to other stitches, as that happens when we knit (we are all human after all!).
By soaking the piece in water or getting it wet, the tension in the stitches is divided equally, making the piece look more even with more stitch definition.
Blocking also makes your piece much, much smoother!! When you crochet, you slightly agitate the yarn (pulling loops through loops, which rubs some of the yarn the wrong way). When you are relaxing your fibers, your item immediately becomes more flexible and soft.
If you are working with lace patterns or motifs that have gaps in the middle, blocking and stretching them will make the motifs or lace in your piece much more visible and neat as your item will not ‘wrinkle’. You can remove small size inconsistencies and straighten the edges.
We’ve all been there: An edge that doesn’t want to sit straight, or is a little wavy even though you follow the pattern. By blocking, you can avoid these nuisances to some extent.
Blocking helps you prevent color fading. Sometimes if you have a bright or dark color next to a lighter color, your color can go to the lighter shade, due to excess dye in the yarn. This is a waste of hard work! Fortunately, the risk of color fading can be reduced by blocking the items in the wet.
Myths about the blockade
As we’ve been in the crochet business for a very long time, we’ve heard and seen a couple of misconceptions about blocking that just can’t seem to go away.
No, that’s not true! Blocking relaxes the points, but also ‘fixes’ them in the way you want. Of course, when you wash your item and let it dry a crumpled mess, your hard work won’t show. But basically, every time you wash you’re giving your item a little blocking treatment. When you lay it out to dry, you keep most of the benefits, like relaxed fibers and a softer yarn. What we recommend is to “iron” your garment with your hands. So gently stretch your piece into shape, smoothing out any creases before letting it dry naturally. It will only take a minute of your time!
