The First Cut Is Always the Deepest...

Today's Confession: Steeking a sweater for the first time will either turn me into a liberated knitter, or a lush with a crochet hook.


I am going to steek for the first time. I've been a knitter for over thirty years and managed to avoid it for this long. However, I decided to take the plunge into my unknown territory...albeit with many excuses to delay it further. Here my friends is my Knitpicks Telemark Ski Sweater ready for its procedure.



First, a little preparation.

Check List

1. Garment to be cut: check

2. Sc-i-i-i-i-ssors: c-c-c-c-heck

3. Large, cheap [shhhh!] bottle of wine given to me as a hostess gift: check

4. Large bottle of the good wine in case the cheap stuff doesn't cut it: check

5. Nice giant tumbler pretty wine glass: check

6. Crochet hook: check

7. Rosary: check

8. Garbage bag to hide the evidence if all fails: check

9. Sock yarn to make it all better if all fails: check

10. Courage and determination: check, no, no, it's there...check.

Alrighty, the first thing I must do is crochet the steek. I also need to reverse all instructions because I'm left handed.

Oh joy.

Okay, I can do this. I'm backwards anyway, right? [snort]

So, in order for me to determine a straight line, a basting stitch is a good idea. This not only keeps things aligned, but also helps you know which stitch you're crocheting and know the length [which is measured using your sleeve] of the opening you need to fit your sleeve properly.


Next, I need to crochet a few stitches before beginning my steek because it's always good to know that even though you may not be as proficient a crocheter as you are a knitter, your crochet [that you spent 15 minutes making] will remain intact while your knitting [that you spent 8 months making] falls into itty-bitty pieces.


Now it's on to crocheting the steek. I'm taking one half of two stitches and crocheting them together using a slip stitch. I'm about a stitch or so away from the basting line. [Hey, if being chintzy with the steek is good enough for Meg Swansen, it's good enough for me]. Remember, I'm left handed so this probably looks weird to a right handed person.


I began with the right side of the sweater facing me and starting on the right hand side of my basting [if you're right handed, start at the left] crocheted down, across a couple of stitches and back up again, ending it off with a few crocheted chains as I did for the beginning. Repeat on other side of sweater.


There you have it. A crocheted steek. My first one. So far, so good. I didn't have a coronary...my blood pressure is probably a wee bit elevated, but I'm good.


Now, it's time to cut.



Stay tuned...

Keep On Knitting...