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

[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!)