the blue blog archives: eek, a steek!

I did it! I cut my first steeks. After finishing up the knitting on the body of the Dale sweater, I was really excited about cutting the steeks open and seeing how the neck would turn out. I also have one sewing class under my belt, which means that I knew how to thread my machine and run a line of stitches. I figure that and a bit of chutzpa is all you really need, right? OK, that, chutzpa and Geane's Knit a Norgi page by your side. So I pulled out the Bernina for its inaugural run.

As you can see from the pictures, I first went to work on my old swatch from the steek workshop I took in November. I put the first sewing lines to the test with a lot of picking and pulling and decided to try making the machine stitches a bit smaller. The second steek withstood my abuse much better. So, off I went. Back neck steek on the block. Two, uh make that three, lines of machine stitching on either side and then snip down the middle. Not too bad, really. The front neck steek was a little scarier. It was quite a bit longer and came down to one single stitch for the center of the v-neck. I was worried about missing the opening and sewing (or worse, cutting!) into that stitch and below. But nerves of steel and a constant refrain of 'I can knit this again' got us both through unscathed.

Now, I need to recouperate before I can even begin to think about doing the armholes. We'll see how the steeks hold up to lying around in the project bag for a few days. If they survive that, I'll consider it.

posted by alison at 8:15 am | in bugs! , techniques

Comments

Congratulations on your steeking success! Welcome to the wonderful world of Norgi steeks. You're gonna love it here!

Posted by: Wendy at January 23, 2003 8:24 AM

You are so brave!!! I have a number of projects in the works, that have all been put aside because I'm scared of steeking/cutting. I haven't even started knitting the steeks yet (about 3 rows down from where I'd start) - and I can't wrap my little mind around the process. I keep reading all the knit blogs (especially Wendy) hoping for inspiration.... one of these days, I will have to just do it.

Congratulations! The bugs look great, and I am so happy that your steeks worked out!

Posted by: Jojo at January 23, 2003 9:54 AM

Good for you Alison! And thanks for the great photo's.

Posted by: kathy at January 23, 2003 10:13 AM

you are one brave woman indeed! brava - you rock!

Posted by: kate at January 23, 2003 10:48 AM

hi alison,
let alone the fact that you knit two of everything which is truly mindboggling -- now you have conquered steeks!! i am all agog. very pretty, awesome job, can you drive down to new york and teach me in person? there's no way i'm learning that from reading a few blogs!! :)
totally in awe, can't wait to see the ultimate project, carolyn

Posted by: carolyn at January 23, 2003 11:11 AM

Wow - what a fantastic job!

Posted by: Sheryl at January 23, 2003 12:01 PM

Wow...that looks great, Alison! I'm impressed!

Posted by: Becky at January 23, 2003 12:20 PM

hey! it looks like a v-neck sweater! v impressive work! (steeks still make me nervous, though.)

Posted by: daria at January 23, 2003 12:41 PM

Fantastic job Alison. I think that once you stop shaking ,realise the simple elegance of what you've done ,you will be liberated ! Fair-isles and Norwegian masterpieces beckon !
Well on the way to becoming a master knitter ,I'd say !
How long have you been knitting ? :-]

Posted by: Emma at January 23, 2003 3:48 PM

Phew. I've been worried for a week just reading your blog. Fascinating process. Nerves of steel AND hands of a surgeon! You will sleep well tonight, I'm sure. Thanks for all the photos. Keep up the beautiful work.

Posted by: kerstin at January 23, 2003 6:31 PM

Wow! Steek on, woman! :)

Posted by: ann at January 24, 2003 1:41 AM

Thanks everyone! It was actually quite exciting and I'm very happy with how it came out. I still need a few days to work up the courage to cut into the body for the armholes though.

Jojo, you should definitely try it. It's empowering once you've got it done! And Carolyn, I very much enjoyed your use of the word "agog". ;-)

And to Emma, who asked how long I've been knitting: about two years now. I keep wanting to try something new with each project. But after trying out a lot of different and sometimes difficult techniques, I'm finally getting interested in some simpler projects. A garter stitch scarf is starting to sound really good! ;-)

Posted by: alison at January 24, 2003 11:01 AM

Superb! You are learning so much and doing such a great job!

Posted by: michelle at January 24, 2003 11:36 AM