Blocking Cotton - Wet Blocking Edition

A couple of weeks ago, I steamblocked my new Allons-y market bag and it worked out wonderfully:

before blocking

after blocking

So when I made a smaller market bag I decided to try wet blocking it:

this is during blocking - that weird triangular thing is the flap of the pouch

this is after wet blocking and steam blocking

Ultimately, the wet blocking was a fail.  First, it took 3 full days for my project to dry; that was inside a centrally air-conditioned house, pinned to a blocking mat.  Second, when it finally dried, the fabric was coarse and not very pleasant to the touch.  Knitting is a tactile art and in my opinion should be wonderful to touch.  So I got my iron out and steam blocked it.  Just like with the larger bag, the fibre relaxed beautifully, softened up and the stitch pattern opened up exactly how I wanted it.  

The moral of my story?  Steam blocking cotton results in a softer and more co-operative fabric than wet blocking.  Also it takes about 35 1/2 less hours to steam block.