Blocking an acrylic throw blanket?
I usually work smaller projects, but took on a throw blanket as a gift for my mother-in-law this Christmas. As I'm rounding the corner of finishing it (halfway through my last ball of yarn!), I think this blanket is really going to need blocking for the pattern (a lace/cable mix) to shine through. I've blocked plenty of smaller pieces and some larger pieces in natural fibers, but never one quite so large and acrylic. The last thing I want to do is ruin this after it's been such a long project. Any suggestions would be great!
Posted Dec 6, 2014, 6:11 AM UTC
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Steam blocking is probably the way to go! Using an iron, steam it while it is pinned into shape, carefully not touching the iron to the actual surface (this "kills" it)
I am sure someone else probably has a useful link to a tutorial with photos or video!
I'm kinda terrified of iron-steaming, hoping to figure out another route. I'd hate to melt my blanket by accident :(
If you put a damp towel over the acrylic you avoid touching it with the iron & fully melting it instead of just killing it.
Washing that blanket -> placing it on a/some large towls ->stretch into shape -> and then roll the whole thing up until dried?
This is how it deal with most of my sweaters, and it is relatively safe.
Really, as long as the iron doesn't touch the fabric, it's fine.
I recommend knitting up a test swatch for blocking (if you don't already have one). I was really worried that the acrylic blanket I made would be ruined either by the washer/dryer or the iron and testing on the swatch made me far more confident.
I once steam blocked an acrylic cardigan (many years ago)- it did not turn out great.
Each of the cardigan parts grew, and the yarn got a strange feel to it. It was almost impossible to sew the parts together afterwards.
I do not recommend high temp.