In anticipation of the next issue of Clotheshorse magazine, I thought I'd post a tutorial from one of my designs that appeared in last winter's Clotheshorse. This is Baroque, a double-breasted capelet with contrast color facings, done in stranded colorwork using steeks. One way to prepare steeks involves a sewing machine. You can also sew them by hand or crochet them---or simply leave them to felt. For this design, I chose a knotted steek. The knots fill in the space between the facing and the colorwork, adding insulation. Below is a photo of the back panel before cutting. The stripe running up the center is the steek itself---a bridge of stitches which will not appear in the garment itself. The narrow black line marks the center, and it is where I will cut. Whew! Now for the knots. I gently unravel the stitches all the way to the solid white line. Then I choose one black strand and one white strand and knot them together. I pair a black strand with a white in hopes that I will get two strands from the same row. Perplexingly, it doesn't always work out this way and I end up with an extra white strand and have to knot three strands together, then root around for the black strand that escaped earlier. I used an overhand knot---maybe a half-hitch?---for most of the knots. But in spite of my clever color-coding of the steek itself, some strands were too short and had to be tied in square knots. Below are action shots of the half-hitches in process . . . . . . and the final fringe, which is to be tucked in neatly under orchid-colored facing. Lovely!
2 Comments
2/15/2014 03:13:37 am
Thanks so much for showing me this. It's hard to choose a steek techinique, but this might make a nice edge. Is it bumpy though? I will try it out. :)
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You would expect it to be bumpy, but it's not noticeable at all under the facing and I don't suppose you would feel it between your sweater and a shirt you are wearing underneath. You certainly can't see or feel the bumps through the knitting. I wouldn't try it with super bulky yarn unless it's a scarf or something where the knots could be a design element. (Oooh, good idea!)
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