I love knitting color work sweaters and am knitting coordinated cardigans for two of my granddaughters. Many color work cardigans are first knit in the round, and then cut open to create a cardigan. This process is called “steeking”. I’ve successfully steeked and finished the first one, but have procrastinated steeking the 2nd cardigan. Why you ask? Who knows! As motivation this blog post documents the resources I’ve used and my process.
The Completed First Cardigan
Cardigan Details
Pattern: Vesle Vinterfjell Cardigan
Designer: Skeindeer Knits
Yarn: Tuku Wool Fingering in orange, dark purple, and cream. Purchased at The Woolly Thistle.
Resources & Notes
Videos
Blog Posts
Steeks 2: Reinforcing and Cutting written by Kate Davies Designs on April 29, 2012
Steek! How to Steek a Handknit Sweater written by Alexa Ludeman on September 18, 2014
Steeking the 2nd Cardigan: My Process
Step 1: Incorporate Steek Stitches — Incorporate an odd number of steek stitches into the center front of the sweater. The center stitch will be the cut down the middle. For this sweater I used 5 steek stitches: P1, K3, P1
Step 2: Reinforce — Add reinforcement to both sides of the center steek stitch. I use a crochet reinforcement. See resources above for details and excellent photos.
Step 3: Cut — Cut up the middle of the center steek stitch. You can see the horizontal bars to cut between the crochet reinforcements. Snip away! The crochet reinforcements leave a nice, clean edge.
Step 4: Button Bands — Pick up stitches & knit the button bands. Once the buttons have been sewn on, I re-block the sweater and tack down the reinforcement to the inside of the cardigan.
Step 5: Enjoy — Wear your wonderful new cardigan proudly, knowing you are now a steeker. I’ll be gifting this one to GG #2 (GG == GrandGirl)