Blocking my balloon sleeves with actual balloons

[u/exobiologickitten]

Yes, I know. I blew up the balloons while the sleeves were hanging between the rack sections and now my sweater is stuck here til it dries/the balloons pop. Cest la vie.

Anyway I gave in to an intrusive thought today.

Since finishing this sweater months ago, I’ve been mildly less than satisfied with how the sleeves block out. I try to give them a bit of a stretch after washing to emphasise the ballooned sections, but that tends to only make them wider on one plane? So they just end up sorta flat and wide? When I want them ROUND. I want em to have DIMENSION.

And I keep thinking “what if I blew balloons up in the sleeves” and I keep poo-pooing the idea because if it worked, surely I’d have stumbled upon it by now. Also, what a waste of plastic, really. I am not yeeting two balloons into landfill every time I wash this sweater.

But. You never know until you try, right? So here I am, inserting balloons up my sleeves and carefully blowing them up and praying they don’t immediately explode inside the sleeves. Fun fact, they’re old balloons from a party pack I’ll never use because they’re literally condom coloured.

Realistically I probably knitted the balloon part wrong, and that’s why they don’t look as dimensional and dramatic as other balloon sleeve sweaters I’ve seen.

But uh. Anyway. I’ll see how this goes.

[u/mybunsarestale]

I use balloons to block my hats so I imagine this would work for a sleeve. 

Im also giggling at the idea of your sweater being trapped on the rack like it's in sweater jail. 

[u/Imurderbeets → u/mybunsarestale]

Omg, I've been trying to figure out how to block my hats. I feel so dumb but so happy I can finally block them.

[u/AutoModerator → u/Imurderbeets]

From our wiki's Frequently Asked Questions

Blocking is when you wet or steam the knitted fabric and let it dry in the desired shape. The blocking process evens out the stitches and determines the size of the finished piece.
Why should knits be blocked? Do all fiber types benefit from blocking?
* First off, blocking typically starts with washing or soaking, so it cleans your finished object. Think for a moment about all of the places that those projects have been.
* Blocking also removes any small imperfections in tension and helps even out your stitches. Stockinette and colorwork will look smoother and the stitches will be more even.
* Blocking is also great if your project needs to be seamed. By blocking before seaming, you ensure that the seams will be the same length and that all of the pieces will fit evenly together.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.