Think I may have screwed up

[Omgrowngirl]

I have been working on a granny square blanket for almost a year. I've made 108 squares and did the flat join on them. Everything looked really pretty until I realized that 3 of the blocks looks slightly larger. It is nearly noticeable but I'm not sure how to fix it without taking it all apart and remaking the squares. Do I block a blanket after its made? I blocked the squares before I seamed the blanket together but wasn't sure if I should do it again to see if I can correct the 3 that are slightly off.

Any suggestions?

Thank you

Felecia

[magiccrochetfan]

What fiber did you use?  How do you block?  

 

I would say if it lays flat, I wouldn't worry about it.   

[Omgrowngirl]

Hi magic....I used encore by plymouth yarn. When I blocked the squares I wet them with warm water then placed them on a core board and pinned them into shape and let them stay there for 2 days until completely dry. I had marked off the size of the square and made each fit before pinning. I did notice when I was doing it that all but those 3 had a tiny bit of stretch (almost none) to fit the marked off square. The other 3 fit without any stretch at all.

It does lay flat however those 3 have the tiniest bit of a buckle in it. It's small but with how much work I've put into this I don't want to short change it here at the end, but I can't hardly bear the thought of taking it apart and re doing all that.

So you don't think I should re block the entire blanket, right? Just decide if I can live with it.

Thank you so much for responding. It helps to just have someone who understands to answer.

Thank you again,

Felecia

[magiccrochetfan]

You can reblock the whole thing.  Encore can be machine washed and dried so that is what i would do to block it, maybe lay it out flat once it is almost dry.  If you are keeping it and plan to lay it out flat to dry every time you wash it, then you could do that.  

 

I don't know what else you can do, unless you take it apart and remove those squares and redo them.  

 

Sometimes we notice the tiny imperfections in our own projects but no one else would ever see them.  A tiny buckle in 3 squares out of 108 is probably not glaringly obvious  to anyone but you!  After all it is handmade not made by a robot or a machine, some variation is natural :-)  

[magiccrochetfan]

Also, re blocking a yarn with a lot of acrylic like Encore:  Some people steam block acrylic; I have not done this myself and am not sure how much it can change the size.  You also can permanently "kill" acrylic but this really changes the fabric.

 

Acrylic in my experience won't really hold the shape from wet blocking, so it may be that your smaller squares sprang back into their pre-pinning shape.   

[Becky Morgan]

This is an absolute pain in the backside, but if it really, really bugs you after awhile, it does work for something that small:

 

Find the three squares that are just a little too big. Thread a yarn needle with matching yarn. Now slide that yarn through the bases of all of the stitches in a row and tug it just...the least...little...bit. Repeat with all of the rows and fasten off the yarn. If they're not granny squares, you'll also need to pull them in that tiny bit top to bottom. Like I said--it does work, but I'd have to be seriously bothered by the size difference to mess with it!

[redrosesdz]

There is an easy way to block the entire blanket.  Here's how I deal with little buckles...

• First, wash it in the washing machine.
• Next lay out towels, then the blanket, then another layer of towels.  (Thin towels work best.)
• Iron the towels to add heat to the blanket without hurting it. 
• Next layer it with a flat surface, like cardboard or books.
• Place weights or heavy objects on top of the flat surface.
• Let dry for 2-3 days, until it is completely dry.

 

The buckles will be gone, even after you wash and dry it again.

[Omgrowngirl]

Thank you all.... Each answer teaches me something and I really appreciate it. I'm going to try redrosesdz first since it's such a small buckle in only 3 squares...cross your fingers... I'll let you guys know how it goes