How to Block Using a Hap Stretcher, Part 1: Square or Rectangular Hap (Photo Tutorial)

We’re all about the blocking at the moment — Excellent Blocking is this month’s featured Confident Knitting technique. This month’s pair of video tutorials creatively use household objects (with the option to use flexible blocking wires) to achieve some really stellar blocking results. Today though, we thought it’d be fun to share a blocking tutorial of a different type from our archives: how to block a square hap!

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Let's block, excellently! Two video tutorials to boost your lace blocking confidence

Blocking can be a really magical, transformative process, but its’s something that (and you can correct me if I’m wrong) knitters rarely get excited about. It’s consigned, along with swatching, to the list of things one should do when knitting something, much like eating your vegetables or drinking more water.

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Confessions of a Lazy Blocker

I’ve spent the better part of the summer working on a full-sized Hansel Hap for the arrival of my first wee one in October. It’s been a pleasant knit, but a big one, so I was thrilled when I finished the last of the border edging points a weekend or two ago. On finishing, though, I was faced with a big question …. just how was I going to block it?

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How to... Use a Hap Blocking Frame

Blocking your knitting is one of the most satisfying and transformative processes. What starts out looking like a hair net, can be utterly changed by a good soak and stretch. While blocking has a place in the finishing of most knitwear, it is particularly vital when knitting lace patterns. Stretching out the wet lace and leaving it to dry reveals the beauty of the patterning in a way that's almost unimaginable when you are knitting the tangled-looking mess.

The following tutorial is going to show you how to use a hap blocking frame (aka hap stretcher) to block square, rectangular and right-angled triangle haps and shawls. Hap is the Shetland word for a shawl designed for everyday wear. 

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