We've all done it. We've all got stuck in and knitted something from a pattern we adore, reached the making up instructions and been told to block our new knitted creation. It used to be, when I was younger and rather more slap-dash, that I would ignore that last instruction and just start wearing whatever I'd made. But now that I'm older and wiser, I know what a difference it can make.
"Do I need to block socks?"
Blocking your knitting makes it relax after all that tense knitting. The fibres behave naturally once they've had a soak and the true size and shape of your garment is revealed. I've just finished knitting a pair of socks for my husband. This very delayed birthday present (they weren't finished in time for August...) will now be a Christmas present and so I wanted to treat them with the proper respect.
Blocking is particularly important for socks because, being a tube, they can really shrink in on themselves very easily. If you've chosen a pattern with any kind of design (mine had an 8-stitch cable on either side of the leg) then this can be hidden until the socks are blocked. These details are the parts that you've worked hardest on, and they really sell handknit socks, so we want to show them off as much as possible.
Featured image, above: Marina Orry's Beanstalk socks, from The Knitter magazine, issue 82.
