Choosing Yarn: Quality will be posted tomorrow– today, enjoy a reworked classic from my private blog.
As an undergraduate I attended a college that has been referred to as Hogwarts for Lutherans. Upon leaving that wonderful and snowy place for southern climes, I got homesick. My very knitterly solution was to make myself a classic Norwegian Sweater, preparatory to designing a Norwegian Sweater with my school’s various Norwegian motifs worked in. The self-designed sweater is still only a twinkle in my eye, but the Norwegian sweater was finished at the end of 2007. One of the things I needed to do was steeks (especially since it wasn’t a sweater, but a cardigan), and I took a lot of pictures of my steeking technique. Despite referring early and often to Eunny Jang’s great steeking tutorial, I eventually decided to go my own way with steeks. This is a photo-supported description of my steeking process, which allowed me to work with unreinforced steeks without anxiety or fear.
The Norwegian Sweater in question is the Drops 52-17 Cardigan in Karisma Classic with snowflakes, knit with Knitpicks Merino style in black, white and red.
I did not take pictures of my process throughout (I forgot to picture the sleeves, for example), but there’s still enough photos of the process for me to do a walk-through. Even if you aren’t interested in steeks, going from this:
To this:
Is an accomplishment in and of itself. If you’re interested, read on!
I began with the knitted sweater body you see above. It had been washed and blocked. You can see the seven-stitch steek down the middle. That’s where I eventually cut.
From the beginning, I diverged from traditional steeking practice. I picked up and knit my borders while the front steek was still uncut. That way, the button band itself would hold the steek together once it was cut, preventing unraveling.
I did this in the usual way: I picked up the bar of yarn BETWEEN the last column of pattern stitches and the first column of knitted stitches. Picking up yarn bars in the middle of a stitch results in stitches that are pulled out of shape (ask me how I know this).
After picking up the stitches, I knit the button bands, which had to be double the width of the finished button band, since they would be folded over and stitched down over the cut steek edges. The button bands are knit perpendicular to the body of the sweater, which results in some rather long rows. I repeated this process for both sides of the steek, for two button bands:
Then I returned to the typical steeking process, complete with beer and scissors.
After a bracing swig, I began to cut (forgive the drama, these were my first steeks!)
I cut down the middle of the fourth stitch in this seven-stitch steek, leaving me with three and a half steek stitches on each side after cutting. The yarn, Knitpicks Merino Style, was very sticky, so my paranoid picking-up of button bands before cutting was probably not necessary. In a lot of places, people cut the steeks, then wash and block the sweater, and then pick up stitches… all without any reinforcement at all. I was not this brave. See the cut ends:
Eek! After cutting all the way down the line, I have a cardigan where I previously had a tube.
Now it’s time to start sewing down the loose ends of the button bands, covering up the fuzzy steeks:
After a few wears and washes, the steeks will felt a bit with the button bands, making the whole thing even more secure. Though it’s pretty good already. Tah dah! Button bands:
Then, unfortunately, we lose pictoral documentation, so you will have to imagine me picking up the stitches for the collar and knitting that.
Likewise, we don’t have any pictures for the sleeves, which followed the same procedure as the button bands. I sewed the sleeves to the body over the steeked areas, careful to fold the facings INSIDE the sewn area. Then I cut the steeks. Until then, I had two sleeves sewn to a tube with no way to get my hands through! It was pretty funny.
After cutting the steeks, I sewed down the inside facings to cover up those icky edges, too:
The sleeves went on very prettily:
Leaving me with a gorgeously completed sweater.
Even prettier after some judicious steaming.
I did end up pulling out the neckband and knitting on a new one, since this one likes to stand up straight. I’ve since learned that if you want the collar to lie flat, you need to decrease a few stitches as you knit it, in order to decrease the overal circumference of the circle and cause the collar to draw in rather than stick up.
The final word: I would definitely use this steeking technique again. I think the small amount of increased fiddliness (particularly when navigating the sleeve steeks) is more than worth the peace of mind that you have during the whole process.
Wow! What an awe inspiring sweater, makes me think of drinking and steeking…
Cool post!
Thanks for the step by step on steeks. I don’t feel so eeky about them anymore and may well tackle a project involving steeks in the near future.
Loving the cardi. Well wear.
It still amazes me!
You are an amazing knitter, and I like your writing too!
Wow! Your sweater is unbelievable! And thank you for wonderful step by step demo on steeking.
Nice work and good alternative process. I actually have a same work in progress, and I find the way for the neck knitting : in your photos it seems you have not used steeks for the neck. What are you making for ? Cut the threads at each round ? I found some knitters tips there indicate to pull off the middle stitches and cast on new steeks sts in place, and finishing in rounds, sewing and cutting after.
sorry, I’m french, I have not all the words to easy explain !
thank you if you give me an answer. My work is waiting…
Eve
Hi Eve!
With the neck, since this is a cardigan, I just continued the front steek all the way up. I did do some knitting back and forth (flat) for the final neck shaping, though. It wasn’t very many rows, so purling with colorwork was okay.
Best,
Knitting Harpy
Thank you for your quick answer. I have done tonight ! Now I will knit sleeves. I think I will try your process for pick up the borders sts. This idea stayed in my minds, you confirm it !
So, my cardigan is a Drops pattern (49-3 with several modifications of design) too and I knit it in Merino wool too :-)
hi can you sand me the pattern and the design on the sweater
i really like this sweater i would like to make it for my best friend for her birthday that’s coming soon thanks
my email is sailorwater@yahoo.com thanks a lot
thank you…
your bravery is to be commended. I would have done it quite differently if I had the beer – thus sobriety in knitting is neccessary for me.
the technique is very safe – I could have used it a few years ago when as a new self taught knitter I cut away at some sleeves that where too large at the armhole.
getting ready to knit my first cardigan in the round with steeks,
[…] the body of the project. Here are some excellent websites and tutorials to explain Steeking: The Knitting Harpy – And Now for Something a Little Different: Steeking Getting Stitched on the Farm – It's a Steek Tutorial Knitty.com – Norwegian Steeking Technique […]
[…] got over it, though, and googled info about cutting steeks. I decided upon the method mentioned in this post on the Knitting Harpy’s blog. I also giggled when google asked me, “Did you mean […]
Oh thank you for this. You have given me the confidence to go ahead and steek without reinforcement. I have been planning a method similar to yours but haven’t been brave enough until I found this site. I’m excited now!
Julie x
hello
this pattern no longer exists on the internet
can you send it to me
parsignies@gmail.com
best post i’ve read on steeking, you demystified it and made it sound easy,
i’ve now lost my angst. thanks so much..
beautiful cardigan by the way – gotta cure my fear of fairisle now
joy
joy38 on ravelry
wow- this is a great method- I had been worried about the button bands, but if I just pick them up, that will stabilize and do the button bands at one time. I like it.
[…] https://knittingharpy.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/and-now-for-something-a-little-different-steeking/ […]
Great thinking. I enjoyed your tutorial. Do you have a tutorial for steek bands that have buttonholes? I’m not too enthusiastic about aligning buttonholes on the front to the corresponding spot on the folded over part of the buttonhole band. Maryemiller@twc.com