Yarn question!

[fire_my_spirit]

I heard recently about blocking acrylic yarns with an iron, and found instructions for it here (you'll have to scroll down a ways) that sound rather promising. I was just wondering if anyone had tried anything like this, and had tips or horror stories?

I ask because I am allergic to animal fibers and don't really have the budget for them anyway, so I am generally happy to stick with acrylics, and have thus never bothered to learn to knit lace. But I just found a really pretty shawl pattern that I'd love to make if only I knew it would come out looking like it's supposed to -- but if not, well, I don't want to get my hopes up.

Thanks much in advance!

Comments

[pinesandmaples]

I've done it once, and you have to either be really good with your iron and timing or willing to kill your iron. I'm not willing to risk it with my (sexy) iron so we don't do it. It sort of works, but I'd rather splurge on silk or tencel from someone's stash sale than buy another iron.

[melusina]

I've never done it, but I have had very good results knitting and blocking lace with silk and silk/cotton blends, if those are fibers you can wear. . .

Good luck!

[james]

Have you tried doing lace in cotton or linen? I think that might work better than ironing acrylics.

[vilakins]

I read somewhere to pin it out and steam it, holding the iron a couple of inches above. I keep putting off trying it but it sounds safer than actually putting the iron on the garment, even if there's a wet cloth there. Acrylic can apparently melt.

[apis_mellifera]

Acrylic can definely melt. It's plastic.

[copracat]

I have used this method on a small scarf pinned to the ironing board. My iron is quite vigorous so I could hold it about 2-3cm (< 2 inches) above the FO and still get good steam contact. You do need a steady hand so you don't drop the iron on to the fabric!

I steamed for about ten minutes and left it pinned overnight to dry. The scarf went from a little stiff to a lovely silky texture that fell nicely.

[vilakins]

Thanks for that! I have a lacy scarf in some acrylic I had in my stash, which is the project I've been putting off blocking (I usually just steam-block wool through a wet tea-towel). I'll have to give it a go. How long did you have to hold the iron over the scarf--just pass it over, or for a bit longer?

[copracat]

My scarf was about 120cm blocked. I spent about ten minutes and slowly ran the steaming iron up and down, pausing each iron length for maybe ten seconds at a time. I went back and forth a few times. It was eight ply/DK 100% acrylic yarn.

[vilakins]

Cool! Mine's 8ply. Thank you!

[neotoma]

Might I suggest you try knitting with linen instead? Euroflax is a lovely brand, and once you finish your lace project, you can throw it in the washing machine and dryer and it will only get softer and shinier.

[synecdochic]

I absolutely love Louet's Euroflax, but for a shawl, it would probably be kinda pricey :(

I've done amazing lace with Blue Heron's mercerized cotton. It blocks really well, comes in eighty gajillion colors, and you can usually get a shawl out of a single skein! (It comes in 1000-yard skeins.) I wouldn't call it cheap, but it's generally retailed from between $37-$42 for that 1000 yards, and I really enjoy working with it.

[smeddley]

I have "killed" acrylic granny squares, not so much for blocking purposes, but just to soften them. I did it by holding the iron above the piece and just steaming it.

If you actually own a steamer, that would work - just arrange the piece on blocking wires and steam away! It really is amazing how much it softens it.

[medicalmouse]

I've done it a few times now and had good luck, although I was never trying to block anything as hard as I'd block lace. My main advice would be to be patient with it and take breaks as you need them - depending on how good your iron/steamer is, it can take a while, and it can be hard to hold it at the right balance of close-but-not-touching for long periods of time. (And of course, don't be like me and steam your thumbs!)

[shadowwolf13]

I've done it. I splurged a bit and bought a steam iron that when you press the steam button shoot the steam out a little bit rather than letting it just gently roll out. I think it was about $30 purchase at the time.

As I steamed I was able to take breaks and pin things out a little further so that I could get exactly the look I wanted.