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cpknits
Chatty Knitter
USA
297 Posts |
 Posted - 02/01/2005 : 6:45:26 PM
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| Hi. I finally finished body and sleeves of a 60% silk/40% wool blend fairaisle. I am at the point of deciding how to do the steeks (at arms and front for a cardigan). I've only done it once and with 100% brown sheep wool. I am trying to avoid swatching and practicing two methods. I have the choice of (1) digging out the sewing machine and sewing down the steek, the traditional way or (2) crocheting a chain up the steek in place of the sewing. Has anyone had any experience with option #2 with a silk/wool blend? If it were 100% wool I would not think twice about using the crochet chain method. I would greatly appreciate any insights as I've been debating this the entire time it took me to knit the garment. Carol |
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Kelly B
Permanent Resident
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 07:00:37 AM
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Ok, this is the voice of someone who's done all of two sweaters with steeks, both of which were not 100% wool. And neither of them had any silk. So here's a big grain of salt. But silk is even more slippery than acrylic, I think. Anyhow, my stitches unraveled out of place when I machine steeked them, and the only thing keeping them together is the stitching. So I would drag out the machine. Someone, please tell me I'm wrong....
My album: http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=435997750203&page=1&sort_order=0 |
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fmarrs
Guardian angel
USA
9776 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 09:14:32 AM
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I, too, have not had a lot of experience with steeking but my stitches did not come out. I sewed them by hand using a back stitch and making sure that I passed the needle through every piece of yarn at least twice. It was acryic yarn and I was not happy with the results, but it was all the acrylic ends that made me unhappy, I ended up enclosing them in a thin, nylon bias tape made for enclosing seams edges.
Why don't you take two pieces of your yarn about 3 inches long and see if it will join together when you moisten it and rub it together in your hand like you would do when joining two ends of wool yarn? If there is some wool in the yarn it may not cause you any problems at all.
fran |
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RoseM
Permanent Resident
Canada
1898 Posts |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 12:30:29 PM
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"Steeking"? LOL - I thought there was a typo in the subject line and Carol was 'seeking' yarn . . . time to do some looking up. Never heard this term before.
RoseM |
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cpknits
Chatty Knitter
USA
297 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2005 : 07:08:49 AM
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| Hi. Thank you for the replies. Sorry it took me a while to respond back but I had trouble finding my original question (new to the forums and it wasn't where I thought it was). I finally tried the search at the top. Anyway, your replies make me think I will have to pull out the machine. On my other sweater I did not have any problems with ends falling out because of the wool grabbing. I also knit button bands(bottom up)wide enough to make a facing which covered the ends and I knit the band onto the body of the sweater as I went along. The drops pattern calls for knitting a facing also. I think this will be a weekend project when the next cold blast of air hits the Chicago area. I will say that I have had a lot of fun with fair aisle. I have a Poetry in Stitches kit in my stash that is next. It is one of the less complicated ones. The only problem with these types of projects is I don't find them very portable. I commute daily using the train. My knitting on the train is where I work on sleeves, socks or scarves. Carol |
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