Steam Blocking

At the end of our patterns oftentimes there's one little word that says block and then we look at that word and, and we think what, what are we, what do you mean block? What does that mean? So in this video, I am going to be showing you my method of steam blocking my crochet fabrics. So if you've never blocked before, the what blocking means is you are basically taking something that you're finished or partially finished with and then you're either treating it with water and in wet blocking or steam and steam blocking to kind of create a better shape. Um Also it helps your fibers to relax. So here I have two samples. Um These are both crocheted and the waffle stitch pattern and they look very similar. You can't really tell the difference now. But if I pick them up, you can see one of them is very dry and the other one is very stiff. They were both crocheted at exactly the same gauge with the same hook with the same yarn and everything. Um The only difference is that this one has been steam blocked. So for those of you out there who have tried wet blocking your acrylics and you think I'm not gonna block my acrylics. It doesn't really do anything. Definitely try steam blocking your acrylics because it is a game changer. It makes a huge difference with the drape. Ok. So I'm gonna show you how I do it. So it's very simple. All you need is an iron and you can set it to the highest setting and set it to the highest steam setting as well. Ok. So set at high heat and steam and you will not actually be using the iron to touch your fabric at any point. You are just using your iron to generate steam and to help you shape uh your piece. So I'm gonna be blocking this piece right here. You just shoot the steam out from maybe about an inch inch and a half above like this. And you do have to use quite a bit of steam. You can't just steam it and then call it done, but you do have to steam it until your fabric is getting warm. You're kind of warming up those fibers a little bit and letting, allowing them to relax and then you move the iron away as you can see, and then you can just sort of pat your piece into shape. So another thing that you can do with blocking is you can slightly change the size of your piece. So for example, if you made two mittens and one is just ever so slightly larger than the other. And you want them both to be to the larger size. You can, for example, this square is just a tiny bit smaller than in the square. You can stretch it just a little when you steam it. So steam it, get it nice and warm and then you can use your fingers to just stretch it out just a little bit and allow it to cool off before you move it. So that is key, you can't just move it right away because then whatever position it's in where it cools off, that's how it's going to want to stay. So if you didn't like how bumpy this looks on the edge, give it a little steam and then you can kind of shape it with your fingers to make it a little bit more even. So I'm pulling out on some of the areas and pushing in on others. It just kind of makes your yarn be a little bit more Moldable if you will make your edges straighter and it will give your piece much, much more drape. And after this cools off, we are able to pick it up and you can see it's just as dry as the first piece we had. So that is steam blocking it. Does the wonders for your projects. So definitely try it out, especially on acrylics. It really, really is beneficial for those acrylic fibers to get warmed up and not just wet as in wet blocking. So try out steam blocking. It is so satisfying.