"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either." ~ Elizabeth Zimmerman

4/21/15

Blocking Mittens

I am often asked how I block mittens. Here's a tutorial.

I am blocking a pair of mens mittens. They are made of 100% Acrylic, but I block everything with steam, including wool.

First, I have made myself a little cardboard blocker.I talked sweet hubby into letting me use his hand to create the blocker. I drew around his hand on the cardboard, then cut it out at the dimensions I wanted the mittens to be.



I insert the blocker inside the mitten. Please notice I've bent the thumb where it joins the hand. This is to make it easier to insert in the mitten. When the thumb part is in far enough, I unbend it and push it into the thumb of the mitten.



While doing this, I've warmed up my trusty Jiffy steamer. I then gently steam the mitten on both sides. If you don't have a steamer, a steam iron can be used. Just make sure you DON'T TOUCH THE FABRIC with the iron. Hover above just an inch or two.



Then I remove the blocker and steam again. On these mittens, the thumb is actually slightly more toward the palm, so I go ahead and fold it over and lightly steam it.



Sometimes, despite my best efforts, when I bind off the tips of the mittens, they will have little bumps or dog ears. I use the steamer to flatten them down so the top is nice and round.



I let them dry, which usually only takes a few minutes, and then they're done.



I hope this has been helpful.

Live long and prosper. \\//

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