I knit this really cute scarf last year.  I started it in February and finished it in December.  It was my “purse project”.  I kept it in my purse and worked on it whenever I was waiting somewhere.  I used the chevron scarf pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  I used some Noro sock yarn (color 95) that I purchased on my trip to NYC in 2008.  I used one whole skein and worked from both ends to make the color changes.

When you knit something, chances are you’ll need to block it.  But, what does this mean?  Blocking is what you do to your knitted yarn to make it be the shape and size that it should be.  There are several different methods but what I’m going to show you in this post is wet-blocking.

Get your knitting wet.  My yarn is 100% wool so I want to make sure I’m using cold water and no agitation.  I don’t want it to felt!  I rolled it around in the water a bit to make sure it is all wet.

Next I wrapped up the scarf in this towel and twisted it.  This got out a lot of the excess water.  Now my scarf is completely damp and ready to be bent to my will!  Mwah ha ha.

The next thing you want to do is find a flat surface where you can pin out your project.  I used my daughter’s bed to pin out this long scarf.  You’ll want to use rust-proof pins and use them liberally.  There are blocking boards you can buy with measurements on them.  These can be helpful if you’re blocking something that needs to be very precise.  For a scarf?  Meh.  It doesn’t really matter to me.  I just wanted to soften it up a bit and make it not roll up on itself quite so much.

I let it dry overnight.  Unpin your work and wear it!

If you are blocking a project that needs seaming, you’ll want to do the blocking before you seam.  It will make the seaming process so much easier.  Trust me.

Oh, how I wish I had someone besides myself to take this picture.  Anyway, you can see the finished project.  It is a great scarf and now you know how to block your knitting!