Steek It!

This post is for my friends who love to knit and try new things.  This post is for those trying out fair-isle knitting and realize it's a whole lot easier to steek their garment rather than knit it back and forth for whatever reason...

Some general tips:

• use yarn that doesn't unravel easily

• if you choose slick yarn, be prepared to crochet or sew to secure your ends

• create a knitted area between the sections that will be cut alternating in the colors used that round, so that it's not so scary to cut it later on

Remember these?  For the Little Birds Cardigan, I pretty much ignored all those suggestions above creating so much more anxiety than need be.  Learn from my ridiculousness.

"Little Birds" cardigan by Ysolda Teague

cropped cardi "Jen" designed by Kim Hargreaves

My favorite links on the subject...

Knit-Picks YouTube Video: How to Prepare & Cut a Steek
a really nice overview of preparing your garment for a steek and cutting.

Knitting Daily and Eunny Jang
http://www.knittingdaily.com/blogs/daily/archive/2012/08/03/learn-something-new-steeking.aspx

Eunny Jang's old tutorial: http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/01/the_steeking_chronicles_part_i.html

Let's Knit Together walks you through it... she recommends a strong drink beforehand or maybe afterward, I can't remember.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs6Kw6wGnNk&feature=related


Zimmermania walks you through a crocheted steek.  This is the one I've done myself in combination with the sewn one from Twist Collective (see below).
http://zimmermaniacs.blogspot.com/2007/02/crochet-steek_24.html

Another photo tutorial on a crochet-reinforced steek.  This one is from Kate Davies's site:
http://katedaviesdesigns.com/2012/04/29/steeks-2-reinforcing-and-cutting/

If you chose to use slick yarns or need sewing reinforcement by hand.  It's kind of general info, but helpful.
http://youtu.be/FuxuoIc3Ibc

 or

Twist Collective's tutorial on sewn steeking with a sewing machine.
http://www.twistcollective.com/collection/index.php/blog/38-twist-collective-blog/114-sewn-steeks

A great overview of several different methods, plus how to tack down the cut steek after it's been cut!  This one is from Exercise Before Knitting:
http://exercisebeforeknitting.com/fair-isle-style-steeking-a-quick-and-dirty-tutorial/



And there you go!  I hope these help make your steeking experience that much less painful.

Hurray to the steek!