After years of hand washing sweaters, I decided to try that 'delicate' cycle on my front load washer. Being overly cautious, I gave each sweater its own lingerie bag. Well! Needless to say, I have not hand washed another sweater! As for blocking, I lay them on my indoor drying rack in the spare room.
The only thing I do each and every laundry day, is check every pocket. There have been too many nasty surprises over the years.