I’ll start this blog post with a wee confession: I don’t usually block hats! However, I make an exception for hats with colourwork, where I want to even out the stitches, or with lace where blocking helps relax the stitches and make the lace patterning open up.
A good way to block a hat is over a balloon, as laying your hat flat to dry will give it a crease down each side. You can either blow up a balloon to the size you need or use an already blown-up balloon (we always have some kicking about from kids’ parties). Start by soaking your hat in the usual way (more on this here), then place the hat over your chosen balloon. To keep the hat in place and to stop the brim from over stretching, sew a running stitch around the brim, draw up the ends snuggly around the balloon and tie (cotton yarn or string is good for this, as it doesn’t ‘stick’ to the hat). Drawing a face on your balloon is optional but I couldn’t resist!
Leave the hat to dry, turning it every so often so that the fabric doesn’t sag and that it dries evenly. Remove the string from the brim and your hat is ready to wear.
The hat featured here is ‘A Slice of Honey’ (Ravelry Link) is a unisex cabled hat knitted in aran/worsted-weight yarn and will be available very soon. If you’d like to be the first to know, receive an exclusive discount code when it’s released, and get a free top tips sheet about blocking shawls, then sign up to my mailing list by clicking here: mailing list
Happy blocking! Maddie x
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