Blocking Acrylic?

[srmc]

I have read somewhere before that acrylic should not be blocked. Is this true? I have a shawl that is almost finished using Homespun. Do I need to block this?

 

Thanks for your help.

[mercy7]

i must admit i have not heard of blocking acrylic yarn before. i thought it was only thread work which was blocked.

[jenuine226]

It seems to me that it's a bigger deal to block things when they are made out of natural fibers because they have more of a tendency to shrink or stretch out of shape. Acrylic pretty much holds its shape no matter what happens to it (at least in my experience ... ). I personally have never blocked my acrylic projects, and they turn out fine, even after going through the washer and dryer.

[Stacey]

I did it once early on, when my tension was still uneven and I had some squares that weren't quite the right size. I took the ones that weren't quite big enough and pinned them out to the right size, then steamed them with the steam-puff button thing on the iron.

 

Seemed to work. I figure it probably would've gone back to its original shape after washing, but for my purposes it was fine since I just needed them to be the right size to line up with the other squares to sew them together--once they were together they kept each other in line...

 

But other than that I've never needed to block anything made of acrylic.

[LadyyOftheOak]

I've never blocked acrylic either... finish it up, tuck in the ends and chuck in the washer

 

gosh aren't I scientific and stuff?

[srmc]

Thank you everyone. You guys are great!

 

I did not think that blocking would be necessary but all I have really made has been blankets, a scarf and a hat.

 

Now if I can only finish it. I only have a couple of rows to go but I have not worked on it as often as I should.

[AidanM]

Don't let yourself fall into the trap of Should. Crocheting is your art and craft, never let it be a chore. That doesn't mean you can't work hard and plug away at it for hours on end, but if you don't feel like working on something then don't. If you want to crochet but don't want to crochet that, then crochet something else.

[srmc]

Don't let yourself fall into the trap of Should. Crocheting is your art and craft, never let it be a chore. That doesn't mean you can't work hard and plug away at it for hours on end, but if you don't feel like working on something then don't. If you want to crochet but don't want to crochet that, then crochet something else.

 

The problem is there is nothing else I want to crochet. I have a problem with getting to the final few rows and not finishing something. It is not just crochet. I am this way with anything I do. When I say I should be doing it does not mean I think of it as a chore. What I mean is that I should be doing it instead of doing something else - such as eating, or just being lazy.