Washing and Blocking

When taking pictures for this post it appears I was more enthralled with my new kitchen features than I was in the washing and blocking process. I appologize for that. We are still in process of our kitchen remodel. The sink and facet are in, some of the tiles are in, but it's not all done (so please ignore the rough edges).

To wash any knit product, I fill the sink with warm water and dish soap. Let soak for about 20 minutes:



Isn't my new farm sink beautiful?

This is my new facet:




(in those two pictures you can see that the tile work isn't finished, but what is in, doesn't it look beautiful?)

After a good soak in warm soapy water, I drain the water, and put plain water in the sink (no soap). I soak for maybe 10 minutes, drain water, repeat until the item doesn't feel as if it has soap.

Then I gently squeeze the item, careful not to stretch or felt the item. I pull out a big towel, and roll the item in a towel a couple times. This really gets the water out so it doesn't have to lay to dry so long.

Then I lay the item on a dry towel, careful to shape it as it would be for an end product (hat shaped like a hat, sweater like a sweater and so forth). This shaping is what is known as blocking. I lay it there for a couple days, until dry.

Now it is washed and blocked, ready to wear!