I am in two camps at the moment as to whether to block my work. As posted I am making the Great American Aran Afghan, and although the squares are not too far from each other, they do need a bit of work to get them matching. However, the other part of me thinks that it will be okay as once I have made all the squares and fixed them together and added the outer ridge it will all fall into shape.
I have been looking at blocking mats, and the price difference from one to another is madness, and if I get the “play mats” they are a third of the price, but are they thick enough.
So todays question is: do you block and if so what do you use. Do you use blocking mats, or do you have a cheat that does not cost the earth.
Let me know.
Mr Knitter 
I don’t block much because most of my yarn stash is acrylic or acrylic blend (cheap but notoriously difficult to block properly), but when I do have a project in need of blocking (usually a shawl, sometimes a sweater), I pin it out over my mattress (with the sheets and blankets removed, and I’ll usually take the opportunity to wash them at this point) with some T-pins. Since it’s usually acrylic blends that I’m blocking, I plug an iron into the media table next to my bed (it’s meant to be a charging station, but I’ve found the outlet works well as a place to plug in an iron and then I just set the iron on top of the table and I go about with the steam blocking). But it does depend on how long you’re willing to give up your mattresses for.
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We have two spare beds so that’s not a problem. I have a professional garment steamer so will use that. Great ideas thanks.
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Sounds like you’ve got a good plan! If blocking on a bed is good enough for Yarn Harlot, it should be good enough for you.
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On saying the the mattresses we have are all memory foam so not sure what pinning would do to it.
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If it’s not waterproof, I would probably cover the foam with a layer or two of towels to be on the safe side.
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Found a set that’s not too expensive so ordering them.
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To block or not to block, that is the question?
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I do block shawls, things with cables, sweaters but never socks. I use rubber floor mats like these https://www.amazon.com/TG-Interlocking-Stalwart-Flooring-Exercising/dp/B0050P218E/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=rubber+floor+tiles+set+of+4&qid=1588028816&sr=8-8
They have held up for at least 10 years.
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The same ones here are £53.49 and £5.99 postage so may give those ones a miss lol. As usual craft stuff in the UK is expensive.
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