If you’ve been following this blog or my Instagram for any length of time, you’ve no doubt seen countless photos of my damp knitting pinned neatly to my beloved interlocking blocking board. Blocking is one of the very most important factors in how polished your finished work will look, and taking the time to do it — and do it well and thoroughly — is more than worth it. Once you start taking care with that step and seeing the results, there’s no going back. And “Where did you get your blocking board?” is one of the most frequent questions I get. About five years ago, I bought a Cocoknits Knitter’s Block kit and it’s been truly one of the best investments I’ve made in my knitting. Now that the kit is even better looking than it used to be, I’ve finally made it available for you at Fringe Supply Co.! This is one tool I truly would not want to knit without. (For thoughts from me and a bevy of commenters about best blocking practices, see How do you block your finished knits?)
Speaking of knitting tools, we’ve also added a sweet little Fringe Supply Co. Tool Kit to the shop in the past week — our Fringe canvas tool pouch packed with 7 of our most loved and useful tools! (We have just a few left at the moment, and will be sure to make more.)
RELATED: BLOCKING LOG CABIN MITTS
This seems like a good opportunity for a gentle reminder that if you’re making Log Cabin Mitts, it’s important to pause when your squares are done and block them. Log cabin knitting, in particular, can be pretty bunchy and twisty as you’re changing the direction of your knitting all the time. Taking a minute to soak your square, pin it to size in a neat, straight grid, and allow it to dry completely before proceeding will lead to much better finished results once you’ve added the thumbs. You won’t believe how much nicer your square looks after it’s blocked! While you can always re-soak your mitts, you’ll never be able to get that log cabin block to cooperate quite like you can while it’s still flat. It’s just a bitty little square and will dry overnight, so it’s not really even much of a wait!
+ TEACHING LOG CABIN MITTS
Last but not least, I’m blown away by how many people are apparently teaching classes around my Log Cabin Mitts pattern. Some I’ve heard from, some I’ve happened across … and who knows how many others I don’t even know about! If you are teaching it, that’s cool — thank you for spreading the love — but I do have one requirement and one request:
The requirement: Each student in the class must be provided a copy of the pattern in its original, unaltered state.
The request: Inspired by Knit Stitch, if you’re charging for the class, please donate some portion of the proceeds to a homeless or women’s shelter in your area. Thank you!
Happiest of Fridays, everyone — thank you for reading!
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aw jeez it makes me sad to know that this wonderful free pattern you’ve made is being used by others to make money off of :( still you’re handling it with grace and poise, you’re such a rockstar!! anyway, I’m almost ready to block my log cabin mitts. I splurged for the avfkw kit at stitches and got all starry eyed when I found out “I’m knitting the same thing are Karen!”
It really is a great teaching pattern, and I’m happy for people to teach it. As the requests started coming in, and Suzanne made her pitch, I decided that’s what I’d ask of everyone, not realizing there’d be people teaching it without contacting me first. So I just wanted to put that request out in a broader way!
It’s all good.
It is a great teaching pattern with lots of learning opportunities. I’m looking forward to teaching it at Knit Stitch later this month.
Great donation idea! You are a very giving person and I love the thought of that rippling throughout the world. Thank you for making good things and good things happen!
I am sure everyone has a technique to assist in blocking. These have made blocking for me so much easier. I can block out a sweater in less than 5 minutes.
https://www.amazon.com/Knitters-Pride-Knit-Blockers/dp/B00JEIB0GM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1522426394&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=knit+blockers&psc=1&smid=A3JR4J7J8ISE8A
I keep meaning to try those.
One of these days, I’m gonna get those blocking squares. Until then I’ve got a great sisal rug in my spare room/knitting/sewing/yarn storage room that has a contrasting border that doubles as a perfect straight edge for the top edges of shawls, lower edges of sweaters, etc. Also, I’ve got flexible and non-flexible blocking wires and a super long metal yardstick thingy plus a carpenters’ right angle that is perfect for making sure everything is squared up just right. Oh, and a million T-pins. :) I’ve also got a mesh sweater blocking thing from Bed Bath & Beyond that’s perfect for small things that don’t need pinning. Blocking can sometimes take a really long time for a big project but it’s so worth it!
Off-topic, with apologies: A nomination for Q for you: When choosing a pattern, do you pay attention to whether or not the pattern has been test-knit?
Oh, interesting — do you look for that? I’d love to hear more about what prompted the suggestion.
I didn’t look for test-knitting, until a knitting blogger I respect commented on the high number of errors she found in a pattern and suggested that was due to the pattern’s not having been test-knit. Her comment made me wonder why, judging from Ravelry notes, some designers usually have patterns test-knit and others don’t, or don’t show the test-knitters’ notes. And thank you, Karen, for being a constant source of inspiration.
Why do some pattern call for seaming before blocking? A pattern for baby sweater I recently knit was written in this way.
I don’t know — I would definitely block and then seam!
Is it best to weave in ends before or after blocking? Thanks Karen!
Best to do it after, so the fabric has eased to its natural proportionsl