People have told me for years that you can’t block acrylic yarn. As my British friends would say, that’s bollocks. Of course you can block acrylic – you don’t see acrylic sweaters at the mall with an unsightly roll at the hems.
The problem is that you have to block them differently because acrylic is essentially plastic so methods you use to block plant and animal fibers just won’t work.
I stumbled upon this wonderful blog post on BeadKnitter Gallery’s blog a while back outlining a simple and effective way to block acrylic: steam.
I encourage you to read the whole article for it has lots of pointers and visual examples, but it boils down to these simple steps:
- pin/blocking wire the piece into the desired shape
- set your iron to full steam ahead
There are two VERY IMPORTANT things to remember – 1) NEVER touch the piece with your iron or the yarn will melt, and 2) the blocking is permanent. So be sure to test it first on something you don’t care too much about, until you get the hang of it.
I spent this morning blocking about 7 toddler shirts and dresses that I had lying around. It’s quick and easy and the results are magnificent!