sweater boards?

[syndactylus]

are they worth it?
or are they just a distraction from yarn?

[Cristy]

What's a sweater board?

[syndactylus]

a blocking board, sorry.
like this:

[Cristy]

aha! That's what I thought you might have been talking about but I wasn't sure....

I have a few friends in my snb that really use theirs a lot--I've thought of buying one but then I don't block that much and when I do it's usually a scarf or something that my ironing board works best for b/c of it's length...

[betsylynn]

i made a blocking board out of a piece of wood, glued thick styrofoam to it and covered it in canvas - gotta love the staple gun. i made it for about $10-15, whereas the blocking board costs a lot more. and i was able to make it as big as i needed/wanted.

if you make a lot of sweaters, then it's definitely worth having a blocking board of some type, but ask yourself how much you really want to spend on it before buying one.

[syndactylus]

I have been...
so yours is without the grid on it - and you don't miss it?
(I am wondering how useful that part is, exactly.)
thanks!

[betsylynn]

mine is without a grid, at the moment, but when i pull it out for my next sweater, i'm planning on using a sharpie to make 1" hashmarks along the edges. i am a slave to my measuring tape, even if i had lines, i'd measure. so i'm guessing i don't miss it, but then again, i've never had it.

[Birdy]

I've never blocked yet...

but I had to say that I wonder if using a Fabric Marker would be a better idea than a Sharpie for marking the home made board.

And I love that idea. I will have to try that when I get to a project that requires blocking.

[Lighting57]

I believe that Hancock fabrics sells a fabric with a one inch grid on it for just this kind of use. I think I last saw it where they keep interfacing and stiffening fabrics for crafts, etc.