At the beginning of this project I set out with a few questions that led me to pursue 4 new knitting skills: knitting on circular needles, using stitch markers, trying out some new stitches (and ultimately trying out lace knitting for the first time), and blocking.
I feel confident in saying that I now know how to use circular needles and feel comfortable doing so, and if you’ve been reading these blogs up until now you know that I feel pretty good about stitch markers too.
Finally, I want to learn how to block my knitting.
(For those who don’t know what blocking is, it’s basically a process that shapes your knitting through the use of steam or water)
In my research, I’ve found that there are lots of different kinds of blocking. I have found some useful guides for blocking lace knitting in particular, which is the kind of pattern I’ve chosen to knit for this project. However, this kind of blocking generally requires some tools that I do not have and that I am not looking to purchase at the moment (depending on how this scarf turns out maybe I’ll put that on my Christmas list…).
I have found one method that doesn’t involve any special tools, just a rolled-up towel and some pins, so this is the method I’m going to try.
Now all that’s left is to cast off and then actually block my scarf… wish me luck!