…pun intended.
To paraphrase the comedian Jeff Foxworthy, you might be a really serious knitter if:
you just purchased a commercial steamer! Oh yeah, baby, ain’t she a beauty! (Excuse the poor lighting. It’s pretty gray here today, which actually should work to our advantage in just a little while as we snap some photos of my new design.)
Obtained through the wonders of Amazon, this is the Rowenta IS9000. Anything with a “thousand” in the model name seems rather futuristic, no? She’s got all the bells and whistles – retractable telescoping arms, a retractable power cord (perhaps, sadly, my neurotically favorite feature), wheels for rolling, and a spot to hang your garments/knitting as you steam them.
Steam really does wonders for knitting, and sometimes is much preferred to soaking/blocking, depending on the piece, the yarn, or the fabric. I love steaming my swatches to get a speedy idea of whether the swatch will work or if I need to change needles or stitch patterns. Not to mention, a quick steam to smooth out your knitting is way faster than re-soaking and re-blocking a piece before it gets stored away or, conversely, pulled out of storage.
And look! Adjustable steam settings, foot controls, and a water tank that doesn’t splosh water everywhere when you insert it into the machine! My heart sings. 🙂
Have a good weekend, everybody. If you need me, I’ll be hunting for things to steam in my lair cough I mean, in my office.
xoxo Danielle
daniellechalson.com 
Very interesting. Never once gave steaming a thought myself. I hope it works wonders for you though. Have lots of fun with it. 🙂
Holy cannoli…I didn’t know that you could steam a knitted project in place of blocking it…!! That is great, and I can imagine that it “cuts down your time to the coast”…smile! Enjoy using it…I will be interested in learning how its use compares to blocking…!!