C'mon Baby, Don't Fear the SteekerAugust 9, 2006 More cowbell! Seriously, this post is about the scariest thing in knitting for me...the nightmare-inducing STEEK. A steek is used in traditional Norwegian knitting. It is a way of making a cardigan sweater out of a tube. So the knitter knits up a big tube, then CUTS (steeks) down the front to make the cardigan opening. Then more cuts are made for armholes. Anyone who has ever snagged a sweater or scarf then watched as it unraveled knows how wrong this can go. Update! I just added the ability to comment on the site after hearing that people really don't like the guestbook thing. Let's see how this goes. There is still a link to the guestbook, but we can ignore that for now. |
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First off, here is what I will be steeking. (I can't show you the whole thing because it is a Christmas gift.) See all those dangity-dang colors? Twenty-eight to be exact. See how much time I've put into this? My heart is racing and I'm sweating just thinking about taking scissors to it. So I'm practicing the steek. |
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Here's a swatch I knit up to steek. I used a thicker yarn than my real project to make it easier to see. |
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With a contrasting yarn, I've crocheted up one side and down the other. This method is called (not surprisingly) a Crocheted Steek. I learned the method from Meg Swansen's Knitting: 30 Designs for Handknitting book. So far, so good. Nothing scary. |
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Between the crocheted bits, you can see the little ladders that will be CUT. Part of me wants to do a shot of whiskey at this point, another part of me wants to be stone-sober with no distractions. |
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Viola! Since I'm doing this photo shoot alone and it takes too many hands to cut and run the camera, you have to imagine that scissors were involved between the last two photos. Two halves! More importantly, two halves that are NOT unraveling! |
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The beauty of this method is that there are no little pokey cut ends to be seen. They fold back on themselves. Here is the back of the swatch. I've outlined the pokey little ends, all tidy and behaving themselves. |
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Here's a massive close-up of the pokey ends. I'm a bit concerned about how they aren't all the same length...I need to be sure to cut in a really straight line when I do it for real. |
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I may seem like I've got this steeking thing under control, but that's only because I've learned from some mistakes already. Here's a shot of my first several sad, failed, unraveling attempts to steek. Pictures of the completed project won't be available until after Christmas. Please send all of your positive energy my direction as I try to keep from ruining what has totaled up to a few months of knitting. (So far. Still have to knit the sleeves.) |
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Mandatory doggie content: We recently got Lou his own skull-and-crossbones collar so he can look as tough as the other boys. Where the other boys' collars are more "glam rock", Lou's is a bit more "piratey". He's so tiny that they don't even make the other collars in his size! |
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Here's Ike's "glam rock" collar. All disco blue and sparkley. Doesn't it make him look a little like David Bowie in the old days? |
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My email - staci@verypink.com |
Chris' email - barkless3@yahoo.com |
