Ahem, you know how I’m always recommending you block? Yeah, sometimes you don’t even have to wait until you’re done knitting to block.

If you want to see how something is coming together (or double check your gauge, or see how the fabric feels or drapes after it blocks, or just get a little reassurance that your project is on track), you can totally block things while you’re still working on them.

If you’re using needles you’re ok with getting wet (most metal or plastic needles, especially dpns and straights), you can absolutely throw stuff in water while it’s on the needles. If you’re using needles that shouldn’t get wet (like wood or bone or something with fancy joins where you’re not sure how waterproof it is), you can slip your stitches on scrap yarn instead.

Either way the process is the same as always. Get it all the way wet (do avoid throwing your ball of yarn in the water, that’s not a good time), gently press out most of the water (being sure not to slip your stitches off the needle as you do), lay it out flat (with out without tension, depending on what your project needs, but most don’t actually need tension), and let it dry.

In this case, my next step is to do some embroidery, and this fabric is going to be So Much Nicer to work on after a quick soak/pat/dry. Flip back and forth between this post and the previous one (they’re the same base yarn from Little Skein Anne, this is all part of the nifty scheme we’re working on) and think about which one you’d find easier to embroider on.

I totally think it’s worth the trouble (which, again, was about 10 minutes of active time, including the time to clean out my bathroom sink, would have been faster if I’d used a bowl but I needed an excuse to clean my sink anyway) for a much nicer embroidery experience. Because really, I’ll take any help I can get to make my embroidery…less bad.

Have you ever blocked anything part way through? I feel like it’s one of those really useful tricks not enough people take advantage of!