The Importance of Being Blocked

Ever start with a pattern that looks like this:

Only to end up with something that looks like this?

(FYI:  I didn’t exactly follow the directions here, plus I decreased the pattern my second time through to round it a bit, so don’t worry about the shapes being different… I’m talking about the clarity of the lace).

SOLUTION:  Block it!  Blocking makes your crochet look cleaner, crisper, and more professional.  The thinner the yarn you’re using, the better it will look after blocking.  There are several different tutorials and methods for blocking here.

Blocking may sound fancy & hard to do, but it’s actually quite simple.  For most projects, just lay out your finished piece on a towel, spritz it with water, and gently shape it.  When my projects are small (like this one, which I’m pretty sure my mom is totally psyched about), I sometimes just dunk the whole thing in a sink full of water.  For projects that are more delicate, or for things you want to stiffen, just add some glue or starch to your water bottle before spraying.

Here’s what my lace panel looks like after blocking:

Ahh, now isn’t that better?  You can actually see the pattern now!  Anyway, this is a pattern for a chemisette I found on Ravelry, but you can find it here, too.  I used a bigger hook & thicker thread than recommended, but I’m cool with it… I just didn’t repeat the pattern as many times!  I was going to take a picture of this “in action,” but I didn’t really want to put a picture of my chest on the interwebs, so you’ll have to look at the pattern to see what it’s going to look like.  Happy Blocking, friends!  })i({

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