Blocking Lace Shawls and Scarves

Please note: the following washing recommendations apply to Morehouse Merino Lace Yarn. For shawls, scarves and lace creations made with other yarns, refer to the yarn manufacturer’s washing and care instructions.

Soak your lace creation in warm water, add mild soap (at Morehouse Farm, we use Palmolive(R) Dishwashing Liquid). Let it soak for a few minutes. Then rinse in same temperature water as washing water.  Gently squeeze out as much water as possible.  Then, wrap the shawl or scarf in towel and squeeze—don’t wring—the towel to remove any water that’s left.

Unwrap shawl or scarf from towel. Now lay it flat on a large surface. Most shawls are about 80” long, about the length of a bed. So a bed might be the ideal place to use for blocking a large shawl. Cover bedspread with a sheet to create a smooth surface (don’t worry about getting the bed wet: thin lace yarn absorbs very little water and after squeezing most water out of it, the shawl or scarf is damp, no longer wet).

Now stretch out scarf or shawl to final width and length. This process takes a little patience, since the knitting wants to return to its un-stretched condition. Just keep stretching it until it remains in place. We don’t use pins to block shawls. We find the process of pinning too tedious and we don’t like the scalloped edge it sometimes creates (especially if you are not using dozens of pins). For triangular shawls, use corner of bed for tip of shawl and stretch tips along side and bottom edge of bed. Sometimes it helps to keep shawl in place by stretching it slightly over edge of bed. Let it dry.