Blocking Post Stitches

If you have ever worked a crochet piece with a lot of post stitches, you probably find yourself pulling on it from time to time to get a really good look at it. For me waiting until the end to feel all those stitches slide into place is so satisfying.

Have you ever thought about how that could change the gauge of the piece you’re making? I did a little when I designed the Color Drip set. It has become even more important as I have been working on the Aloe Wish Hiss sweater. These numbers are very important and need to be right. So I am going to share with you the process I used to block the swatch and will use to block the sweater pieces.

You’re welcome to join me if you’d like.

Using any smooth yarn, with an appropriate sized hook, ch 31.
Row 1: Dc in the 3rd ch from the hook and in each ch across. 29 dc
Row 2: Ch 2, turn, dc in the same st. *FPTR around the next st, BPTR around each of the next 2 sts, rep from * across to the last 2 sts, FPTR around the next st, dc in the last st.
Row 3: Ch 2, turn, dc in the same st. *BPTR around the next st, FPTR around each of the next 2 sts; rep from * across to the last 2 sts, BPTR around the next st, dc in the last st.
Rep Rows 2 and 3, 5 more times. Finish off.

For this blog post I measured the swatch both before and after blocking to show the difference. Most double crochet swatches will change their measurements a bit but the change in the post stitches is a bit larger.

In the photo above, the swatch is dry and not pulled. There are about 7 rows to 3″ / 7.5 cm.

Here the swatch has been soaked but not pulled out yet. Still at about 7 rows per 3″ / 7.5 cm.

Before taking the next photo I rolled the piece into a log from side to side and gently pulled the post stitches into place. The reason for rolling was to make the pulling be even across the piece.

Now the measurement is just over 5 rows per 3″ / 7.5 cm.
Imagine that you decided to use the unblocked, un-pulled measurement to figure out how many rows you needed, your piece would be about one third longer than you had planned. That would also mean more yarn and time. Swatching is important. Swatching each stitch pattern is import too!

Happy making!