It has come to my attention that one or two of you remain convinced that you can just block your way out of the mess caused by knitting with yarn ramen. I have collected some data to refute that. Why yes, I am a delight at parties,* how did you know? If you want the long version of this (complete with video and download), you can find that right over here (yes it’s on patreon, but it’s public, anyone can see it, it’s just the easiest place to host and organize it).

But in the meantime, how about a couple of pictures. I knit two swatches. Same yarn, same needles, same knitter, same day, same number of stitches. Just one I knit with yarn ramen (aka the twirly kinky twisty yarn you get when you unravel a knit), and one I knit with relaxed yarn.

Here’s how they came out. See how that top one is…less than smooth? That’s me, a fairly experienced knitter with about eighteen years of practice who tends to knit at a firm gauge trying as hard as I can to knit wobbly yarn evenly. With limited success.

And here’s how they looked after I blocked them. Hard. Twice. Yes that top one calmed down a bit (the fabric is flatter), but there are still lots of wobbly spots (look especially hard at the sixth, eighth, and tenth rows down from the needle over on the right side).

And here’s how they look stacked on top of each other. See how the one on the bottom (the one knit with the forbidden ramen) is significantly bigger than the one on the top? Both wider and taller? Even though it has the exact same number of stitches?

Yeah. That’s because the wobbly yarn knits up at a looser gauge. The bigger swatch literally uses 5% more yarn for the same number of stitches. And that absolutely positively will not block out.

Worse yet, if you have a section of wobbly yarn in the middle of your project (like say, you ripped back two inches in the middle of a hat, reknit those two inches with yarn that was pretending to be ramen, then finished your hat with relaxed yarn), you will absolutely see that in the finished project. Now, is that going to bother you? I dunno…you’re in charge of your own knitting. But I can say for sure it would bug the hell out of me. And it’s easy to avoid. So I fix it.

If you want the long version of how (the short version is ‘soak it, let it dry’), wander over here and I’ll tell you all about it. Because again, I’m an absolute delight.*

*For some values of delight. And party. Look I’m middle aged and autistic, you need to grade on a curve.