How to Block a Gauge Swatch

Now that you’ve made your gauge swatch, it’s time to block it. First, let’s address why.

As I covered here, blocking your gauge swatch will tell you how well your project will handle being washed and how it react to being dried. You can also use it to tell how many stitches you’re getting per inch (important in sizing!) but only if your stitches sit evenly. Sometimes when knitted, you might have 6.5 sts in one inch and the next inch has 7 sts in it! Blocking correctly will even this out.

To block a swatch, first check the washing instructions on the label. Most wools – even superwash wools – will need to be soaked in cool water, gently washed with wool wash, and then laid flat to dry. If your label says machine wash and that’s how you plan to wash your item, then you’ll want to do that to your gauge swatch too.

First, soak your swatch thoroughly in cold water. Wool repels water, so this will take some doing. Be gentle though, you don’t want to unnecessarily stretch it out by squeezing or wringing. Once it’s soaked through, take it out and place it on a towel. Roll the towel up around your swatch to squeeze water out.

Once you’ve done that, gently pull each side of your swatch – first the left and right, then pull from top to bottom. Place it on a blocking mat and gently massage the stitches to lie evenly. You don’t want the middle stretched and the edges tight. The stitches should be as even as you can make them.

The next part will depend on how aggressively you want to block. An aggressive block is good for when you’re knitting something big that will hang – the weight of the item will stretch it quite a bit. It might also be something with complex lace or cabling that needs to be pulled apart for the design to show (see image below). You’ll want to block exactly the same way you will every time you wash the item.

If you want to block aggressively, you will pull your swatch pretty hard and pin it in place while stretched. If you’re blocking gently, only softly push the edges to where they sit naturally while wet. For an aggressive block, you’ll pin it in place, with one pin in each corner and additional pins every inch along the edge. For a light block, you can pin where it sits or even not pin it at all.

Once you’ve got it in place, let it air dry. When it’s dry, you can then measure it to determine your gauge.

See below for an aggreesively blocked piece of cablework. See what a difference blocking makes! Piece is from Long Night’s Journey into Day.