You CAN Block Acrylic, You Should Block Acrylic

I am a reader of Anne Hansens blog, Knitspot. She does the most awesome lace shawl patterns in the universe. She has just released her new Maplewing shawl pattern. It's absolutely the most stunningly gorgeous pattern she has come up with yet! Unfortunately, I had problems downloading the pattern after I purchased it. I've run out of downloads (you get 3) trying to download it and still don't have my pattern. After having a right good panic attack for about 45 minutes, and emailing her shouts of help, I need to settle down. Anne has excellent customer service so I'm sure the problem will be resolved. I just need to be patient and wait until she can help.

Take large cleansing breath here.

Okay. I'm feeling a little better now. On to todays topic.

Being a member of Ravelry, I get to read all kinds of wonderful information on the subject of knitting, crochet, spinning, etc. It's a veritable fountain of all things knitterly. However, there is one thing that pops up in the forums every so often that just makes my blood boil. The myth that Acrylic can not be blocked. I've found the hand knitting community seems to believe this to be true. Even the celebrity designers and whatnot.

Wrong-in epic proportions!

Acrylic CAN be blocked. Let me repeat that.

Acrylic CAN be blocked!

In fact, it should be blocked. From my observations, I would say someone along the line made an acrylic sweater, blanket, or whatnot, blocked it in their usual 'wet blocking' manner and it didn't work. Therefore, acrylic doesn't block-warn everybody. No, it can be blocked. You're just doing it wrong.

I'm gonna tell you how to do it right.

First of all, as I said above, acrylic projects need to be blocked. It gives the yarn it's final finish. In other words, the yarn itself will look much better if it's blocked. We all know how sad an unblocked acrylic garment looks. All wrinkly, uneven, and kind of like it has morning bed head. I sometimes think acrylic gets it's bad reputation amongst the wool lovers because of this very situation. (Never mind they didn't block it right to begin with.)

Acrylic is basically a form of plastic. It requires steam blocking. It's the way it's done in the professional garment industry. It's the way we should be doing it.

It's quite easy to do. You pin your pieces out on your blocking board to the measurements required, making sure the straight edges are straight and even, and the curves are curved properly. If your gauge is just a little bit off so the piece is a little too small, you can stretch it out to where it's supposed to be. The change will be permanent once the blocking is complete.

I use blocking wires for this purpose. I love my blocking wires. In fact, I consider blocking wires the best way to pin a garment out for blocking. Takes way less pins, you don't end up with those scalloped wavy edges, and it's much more accurate for blocking to schematic measurements. Make sure, if you get some, to get a set that has the thin flexible wires for doing curves as well as the regular straight ones. Curves need blocking too.

For the most part, I usually pin things wrong side up. However, if the fabric has a deeply textured pattern in it, like cables and twisted stitches I will pin it right side up to prevent the texture from being flattened.

After pinning it out, you steam it, gently. I own a Jiffy Steamer for the purpose because knitting is my obsession. However, a good steam iron works just fine. Make sure you hover over the garment. Do not touch the fabric with the iron or it will melt. Do not over steam it either or you'll kill it. While steaming I will gently pat the fabric with my fingers to smooth it out. That's pat, not slide. Sliding your hand over it will cause it to stretch where it shouldn't. If there are cables, I'll pinch them a bit so they stand out a little bit more.

Killing is another one of those misunderstood issues. Killing acrylic means to overheat it to the point that it loses it's elasticity. Just steaming it a bit won't kill acrylic.

Sometimes a person wants to kill it on purpose, in which case, kill away. Killed acrylic has a wonderful silky drape that is quite pleasant, and unique. I have on occasion killed some acrylic on purpose for just this reason. Makes wonderful pleated skirts this way.

Here are some comparison photos of the baby cardigan I'm currently making. Please click on them to get enlarged versions.

Not blocked

A little wrinkly, the stitches are uneven, the ruffle wants to curl in an unattractive way, the button band curves and the edges inside the button band are puckered.

close up

Blocked

The fabric is smoother, the button band is straight, the inside edges don't pucker, and the ruffle lays as it should.

Close up of same corner as above.

Now, lets see side by side views.

Close up

Which one would you rather be seen in? (Assuming you're the same size as a 6 month old baby of course) I don't want to hear any more "Acrylic can't be blocked". Okay?

By the way, I steam block almost everything. Wool responds beautifully to steam blocking. I prefer it to wet blocking. If the professional garment industry can steam block, so can we.

Have a great day.

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3/23/2011 Update

I am constantly being asked if steam blocking acrylic is permanent, or will it have to be reblocked after washing? The answer is it's permanent. So feel free to toss that gorgeous acrylic garment in the washer and dryer.

4/27/2022 Update:

Another post about blocking