The proof of blocking

I was at Spin A Yarn on Tuesday and Joyce mentioned she'd seen my new design for The Knitter issue 89 and how she immediately knew it was my design because it was so well blocked.

And here's proof of the difference blocking makes. I finished my new Caterpillargreen shawl and before I blocked it, I laid it out on the dining room table and tried to stretch it out. I then blocked it and snapped another photo. The shawl is now bigger than my dining room table.

In my opinion, every piece of knitting can benefit from blocking, not just lace but for knitted lace blocking is essential! And its easier than most knitters think. Exactly how you block and how much you stretch the knitting depends on what it is. With lace shawls & scarves, I stretch them as much as I possibly can.

We'll be covering blocking lace in detail on my Mastering Lace Knitting Retreat in a few weeks and there's still a couple of spaces left. Get the details here. 

My Online Finishing School starts on Monday 21 and you can still join. Helen did this course and this is what she said afterwards:: "Anniken's easy to follow instructions means i can confidently say my finished garments look great. One very happy knitter!"

From this week onwards I'm changing my newsletter to a 'This Week In The YarnAddict Studio' column where I share sneak peeks from what's happening in my Studio, exclusive subscribers only discount, pattern pre-orders and previews and tutorials. You can sign up to the YarnAddict News here.