Blocking Acrylic

So I've been knitting this Lace Scarf, and as I stated before substituted the cotton yarn the pattern asks for, for Caron Simply Soft which is acrylic yarn. The scarf is a gift for my sister and as I explained to her that the scarf needs blocking because its Lace and so the pattern can be seen nicely, I began to wonder how am I gonna block acrylic! I've blocked cotton before when I began knitting the other lace scarf Branching Out, but never acrylic, the old legend was that it couldn't be done but I remember having read once in a website somewhere that it can. So I googled it as I do everything and voila!

Blocking Acrylic

"You need:

Blocking wires and/or rust proof pins, a cotton dish towel or a piece of cotton fabric, and an iron.

In Arctic Lace, I mentioned that you can't knit lace with acrylic yarns because they won't keep their shape when blocked. This is true if you follow the procedure above.

However, when I went to the Boise Lace Knitting retreat a couple of months ago, one of the other attendees, Pat Stevens, proved me wrong. Here's her technique for "killing" acrylic yarn to give it a gorgeous drape.

Wet your knitting, spin it out in a washer. Lay a sheet on the carpet. Pin the piece exactly the size you want. (I stretch my lace shoulder warmers pretty hard.) Lay a wet cotton dish towel or piece of fabric over it. With a hot iron press down all over the thing. Don't iron just press. I press until the top cloth is very dry. Then I leave it overnight to finish drying. It's that easy. I really press it a lot, it's the steam heat that makes the acrylic look and drape like rayon. You may want to knit a large swatch and test it out.

Edited to add this note in response to a question a reader sent me in email: Acrylic yarn gets "killed" by the application of the heat and it will remain dead after future washings and retain its new shape. You should only have to do this treatment once, as far as I can tell, whereas you normally have to reblock lace knitted in wool or other natural fibers after each washing.

Here's another tip that just arrived in my email from Renee' Wells, whom I also met at the Boise Lace Knitting Retreat (Renee' teaches some great classes on Japanese knitting and if you ever have a chance to take one of them, don't miss it!):

This can also be done dry. Sometimes I place the item on a towel with a wet cloth above. Press and then gently stretch the item into the new shape. You can pick up the cloth between wettings and see where more pressing is needed to even it out. The advantage to this method is greater stretch. You must be careful not to let the item hang over the ironing board it you are trying it there. The weight will skew the shape. I often kill acrylic baby blankets, they morph into lovely exotic feeling fibers! No longer just acrylic! And the mums that receive them use them over and over because they do hold their new drape."

Hopefully it will turn out great!

God bless!

My First Knit

This is the first thing I ever knitted, it ended up being a very deformed cloth. I had no idea what I wanted to do, I just knew I wanted to knit, whatever it was. It has tons of mistakes, I dropped who knows how many stitches, but I learned, and since then been able to knit socks, scarves, hats, and even lace! thank the Lord. I've met some wonderful ladies and a lovely community of knitters willing and ready to lend a hand, virtually speaking of course, whenever needed.
But now it is time to refocus my knitting toward something else, its time to really do this for God's glory as should everything in our lives be done, as Christians.
An amazing door has just opened up and boy am I willing and ready to jump through it!
Next semester I'm beginning the first of 3 semesters to come before I finish med school, I'm entering my Internship which lasts a year, hence the three "semesters". The hospital I wanted to go to sadly(or so I felt) was not an option this semester and so I was left with 4 other options, out of those four the one I wanted was full and so I picked one knowing that God has His will and not always will it be something we necessary like at least in the beginning. He didn't choose the handsomest king He chose David, He didn't choose the "better" son He chose Jacob. And likewise, this Hospital which I visited for the first time last week I think, while others saw it as unappealing and scary I saw it as a blessing!
My entire family from both sides have been raised catholic, most don't even believe in God or at least not the God of the bible. From my dad's side the first response after finding out I became a Christian, here that means "Evangelica" (Evangelical and sometimes confused with Pentecostal) my aunt said "But you were a catholic!" I simply sighed. Of course my aunt doesn't know me as a person, she only knows what she's heard from my mom and my mom would never speak ill of me even if I were a monster which I once was.
So what does this have to do with knitting for God's glory, with the hospital etc?
Well it all began last week when I visited my aunt's clothes shop, on the counter she had 3 gorgeous crocheted shawls!! I mean LOVELY shawls, incredible well crocheted shawls!! I was mightily impressed she told me she'd be willing to teach me! all I had to do was bring my crochet hook(s) and some yarn and away we'd go. Since I knew the hospital was somewhat in the area I asked my mom to take me there that I can finally see the hospital and see what its like from outside and the surrounding areas, the hospital I found out is at a walking distance from my aunt's house and from the shop.
But at that point I still wasn't sure I had passed my ob-gyn class (a long story) so while it all seemed orchestrated by God I just needed that last confirmation, that I would actually go to this hospital.
And today I found out I did pass! And as of May 6th will begin my Internal Medicine Internship at Padre Billini Hospital, and my "Internal Medicine" Evangelism at my Aunt's home!

Please pray for me and my Aunt!! Not just her, pray for her daughters, one of them lives there too and my grandfather a very stern and stubborn man who hates God and especially the bible, he also lives there!

God bless and Happy Knitting!
In Christ,
Rita M.

Lace Yet Again

Lace Scarf
Lion Brand^® Lion Cotton
Pattern Number: 70336AD

So I got this pattern from the Lion Brand newsletter I receive monthly, while I've had a bad experience knitting lace anything, the pattern seemed real easy, plus I have the yarn weight(although I'll be using Caron Simply Soft instead of the one the pattern calls for) needed AND the needles (I'll be using circular needles cause I've only got those in that size, 8) which is usually a rarity. So far its been going great! the pattern is not confusing and quick to knit. Hopefully I'll be done by either the end of the week or by next week.