Yes, we say ironing too here in England, and yet on knitting patterns it always says to block and press, no idea why! Most of my patterns say that, but I'm lazy so I never do. I also never knit tension swatches, I can usually judge from the yarn and if it's a thinner DK I just knit the next size up if I think it might turn out a bit small.
Here's a tip if you don't already do it (but don't switch to this in the middle of a project). Slip the first stitch of each row knitwise (in other words don't actually knit it) and knit the last stitch, even on purl rows. Sometimes this might mean adding two extra stitches when you cast on so you have edge stitches that aren't pattern stitches, but it results in a much neater edge and makes sewing up really easy to do, sewn up from the right side and resulting in practically invisible seams. I learned this technique when I was just getting started with knitting and I think it's the main reason I've never found it neccesary to block anything. Pieces hold their shape a lot better.
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Yes, we say ironing too here in England, and yet on knitting patterns it always says to block and press, no idea why! Most of my patterns say that, but I'm lazy so I never do. I also never knit tension swatches, I can usually judge from the yarn and if it's a thinner DK I just knit the next size up if I think it might turn out a bit small.
Here's a tip if you don't already do it (but don't switch to this in the middle of a project). Slip the first stitch of each row knitwise (in other words don't actually knit it) and knit the last stitch, even on purl rows. Sometimes this might mean adding two extra stitches when you cast on so you have edge stitches that aren't pattern stitches, but it results in a much neater edge and makes sewing up really easy to do, sewn up from the right side and resulting in practically invisible seams. I learned this technique when I was just getting started with knitting and I think it's the main reason I've never found it neccesary to block anything. Pieces hold their shape a lot better.