steeking vs. flat knitting

It's November 11. How I forgot to post this picture today is beyond my comprehension. I am the proud granddaughter of a member of Yorkshire and Lancashire Regiment of WW!. I am the proud daughter of a Korean War Naval veteran. I thank them.

back to the blog post...


Tracy left me a comment regarding the extra work I gave myself by steeking the sweater. Whereas I did give myself extra work, it's only because the sweater was considered complete as I had originally wanted it. I knit it as a pullover, and it was a fully finished pullover. It was just after wearing it a couple of times that I realized that a Lopi pullover is silly. I have central heat, and don't need that kind of warmth inside, and outerwear is much more convenient as a jacket or cardigan. So my options were to stop using heat in my house (not a particular popular option with the family...), give the sweater to a needy Inuit, leave it in the closet or cut it open.

Now, the Kauni sweater I'm making is also steeked, but it's a planned steek. So it's actually saving me a ton of time, because if I made the cardigan flat, I would be purling every other row. In stranded fair isle. Not my idea of fun. I'd still have to put on front bands, and a neckline, so steeking in this case, saved me a ton of time - less seams, no purling, etc. The steeking is time built into the construction of the sweater.

Tracy and I both have knitting machines, and I have used the machine for sweaters, but only sweaters that are stockinette stitch, and fairly simple construction. The actual knitting time? very short. Finishing? much longer. Every piece needs to be steamed, blocked, seamed and then there is the edge finishing. So, while there is a time saving on the knitting part, the finishing does eat up a fair bit. That's why I love top down raglans. Once the knitting is finished, the rest of it takes about an evening.

In my convoluted, roundabout way, I guess what I'm saying is steeking saves time, unless you are doing it as an afterthought to a previously finished sweater.

And also on the topic of comments (or in this case, an email) Susan asked me why I blanked out part of my son's face on the Halloween costume post. My policy is not to show my kid's face online. I am in the unfortunate position of knowing a convicted pedophile, a man I once considered a friend, but can not do so anymore. I know too much about how they act and what they look for. Since my son is not of an age to determine this himself, I make the decision for him - no pictures on-line. No mention of his name (if possible). This is a choice I make for our family - I don't preach to others. In a way I'm glad not every one follows this, because I have seem some amazingly adorable and cute babies and kids out there, and I hope I keep seeing them. But it's why you won't get to see my amazingly cute and adorable boy. Unless you come to my house, but as some of you can attest to, he tends to hide from "the knitters"!


and for those that were wondering about the i-cord maker...
http://www.bond-america.com/products/cool_corder.html

Here is a link to the Cool Corder -the cool little thing I have that cranks out i-cord by the kilometre. It's only for somewhat fine yarn, but I'm pretty sure the Embellish-knit (see the left side of the page) can handle thicker yarn. Don't quote me on that, though. It's basically a little crank thing that's a step up from the "spool with 4 nails" we all had as kids. Just feed the yarn through PROPERLY, (As I discovered - if you feed it wrong, all you get is a hot mess, not i-cord) and start cranking. More i-cord that you can shake a stick at!
I bought mine at Michael's, I think, about 2 years ago. Not expensive whatsoever. I've sort of used it, but not really, but I will be pulling it out of it's hiding place (once I discover it's hiding place...) to make some Christmas trees.