Knitting Ideas And Help Steeking
June 25, 2010 by theknitt
Filed under Featured Articles
This article gives you some great knitting ideas on Steeking. Originally developed as a method of knitting in the Shetland Archipelago and used with the Fair Isle style of knitting, Steeking has become a popular method for knitting. Steeking allows a garment to be created in much larger sections without the added hassle of having to knit from the right side (the front of the garment) and the wrong side (the inside of the garment) making the knitting process faster and easier for many people.
Effectively, what you will be doing is knitting the garment in one piece using the tubular or circular knitting and not stopping to create all of the holes for sleeves, necklines or other holes. Steeking is especially popular for overly complex patterns that have numerous bobbles (or added stitches to create an additional design with the perception of depth with added thickness to the garment by using additional stitches) or are otherwise overly complex and difficult to follow even from a single side.
The actual steek that you make will be knitted in to your garment where the holes will eventually go. The steek is made by the addition of extra stitches that serve to bind the knitting together when the garment opening is cut into the fabric. This will prevent the knitted garment from unraveling while you are working on it when it is time to add the holes into your knitted garment.
When you have cut out the hole for your garment, you have a few different options depending on what works best for you. Generally your added stitches can be added to and you can continue to knit the entire garment without having to do any additional sewing or ribbing to create seams. In other words, you can create what appears for all intents and purposes, to be a completely seamless garment. On the wrong side of the garment, any loose ends can easily be knitted into the rest of the garment so that they do not show. As long as you use a measure of caution and are careful, this will not create any excessive “bulk” inside the knitted garment to create any discomfort for the individual wearing the knitted garments.
If you would like to, you can create seams with ribbing or even the addition of some creative cable knitting so that you have a discernible yet decorative seam. You still may have some loose ends to tie up inside the steek itself though but again, that can be stitched into the wrong side of the garment with little trouble and still be both comfortable and beautiful when it is worn.
Finally, if you would like to, you can create the sleeves or other attachments separately and either knit or sew them into the finished garment. One of the greatest benefits of steeking is that the knit stitches are not very likely to begin unraveling if you have bridged them properly. This means that your options really are open but if you do feel more comfortable creating the other pieces separately, you still have the option of sewing or knitting them in to finish the garment but you will not have to make a decision until you finish the main garment itself. Again, one of the most common uses for this process is with overly complex patterns that already have a lot of design added in to them, the rest as they say, is up to you though and depends on your own knitting ideas. Of course it also depends on your knitting skills and what you are both comfortable with and enjoy.
Liz Raad is a small business coach and author of the exciting new E-book “Knitting For Profit – Your Step-by-Step Guide To Making Money From Knitting and Crochet”.
If you love knitting and crochet and have ever wished you could make money from it then make sure you visit Liz’s popular knitting for profit blog where you will find tonnes of free information, practical advice and knitting ideas on how to turn your knitting hobby into real cash.
