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cotton blocking

dotty | Posted in Knitting and Crochet on

should I know anything special about blocking a cotton sweater(different from wool)? Any advice will help

Replies

  1. katina | | #1

    Hello Dotty

    If your sweater has ribbing, it would be better not to stetch it out as cotton, unlike wool, has no memory, and once ribbed cotton is stetched it might not recover. Cotton can be wetblocked - sprayed with water and left to dry, which is the method I always use.  Some prefer to block cotton by using a steam iron or a wet cloth and dry iron.  Wet cotton is fairly fragile, so handle it carefully or the yarn might break if stretched too much. Blocking improves the look of the fabric by evening out the stitches; depending on the pattern stitch this can have quite a dramatic effect.  Also remember that cotton garments can easily stetch out of shape, particularly if they have been very loosely knitted.

    I don't know if this will help!  Let us know how you get on.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  2. Teaf5 | | #2

    I have had some success blocking cotton sweaters (both handmade and commercial ones) by misting them with water and then putting them into the dryer on medium/low heat with a few similar-color, dry towels. This works very well even when the sweater has gotten old and stretched out of shape or when I was too energetic in iron-blocking and flattened it more than I wanted to.

    You can also wet the sweater thoroughly in cold water, spin dry it in the washer, then lay it flat to dry, shaping it to the size you like, then do the mist/tumble dry sequence. Although it's time-consuming, this process will really revive a well-worn cotton sweater!

    1. dotty | | #3

      I ended up misting it and just letting it dry flat. It never occcured to me to spin dry my soggy sweaters. Great idea! When it needs reviving I'll try your other idea. Its been too hot a summer to wear my finally finished sweater.

      1. mem | | #4

        make sure that you put your sweater into a pillow case to confine it while spinning or it will stretch .

        1. dotty | | #5

          Good point!

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