Sunday, January 27, 2008

La Steek...so chic!

Saturday morning evolved into a singularly beautiful clear (but very cold...-12...brrr) day. I warmed my hands around a steaming cuppa' tea as the thinly bright white sunshine filled my kitchen. "Today", I said to myself, "today..I steek". I had planned to steek during the week, but Wednesday got away from me and Thursday & Friday kicked my ass at work. I wanted to be fresh and energetic for this new challenge!



More Stripes...Only Not my interpretation of Amy King's great pattern. I'm using the rib wrong-side out and added waist shaping via decreasing needle size. I also have added about 4" in length for a more "tunic" style, and raised the V neck to just below the bust.

So you saw the center 4 stockinette stitches...That's the steek. I went upstairs for my trusty dusty (yes, she's been sadly neglected these past several years since I switched from quilting to knitting..sigh) Elna sewing machine. Luckily there was red thread still in the bobbin (leftover from the disastrous first attempt at HUGE production..i digress). Plugged everything in and let her rip.....



I sewed up and down the steek three full times, leaving a good 3/8" space between the stitching lines. Once I was satisfied that this wool blend yarn was held well in place...I grabbed some sharp pointy scissors and sat in the nice bright natural light.....took a couple of deep breaths...



It really almost made me giddy.



And I'll be darned...now it looks like a vest front. Or marinara sauce....hey, it'll be the perfect spagetti eating vest!



As we speak(?) I've done the three-needle bindoff for the shoulders and picked up the neckline. I have about 4 more neckline rows, then seaming of sides, then armhole edging. I hope to have a nice FO to show you tomorrow or the next day!

Maybe two actually....I cast on for Thorpe (scroll down to her sidebar for the free pattern pdf.) yesterday while waiting for Grandma Clara at the hairdresser's. It's in some luscious Misty Alpaca Chunky from the stash. I'm at the brim now! A fast, fun knit. Well, that's about it for today. Laundry, blueberry pies to bake along with a casserole to take over to a colleague's house. She had BOTH of her knees replaced a week ago! Brave woman! A little more knitting in between.....have a great knitterly day!

10 comments:

Allison said...

CONGRATULATIONS! I still haven't tried that yet. Love your new animated avitars! Check out my blog later tonight for your award!

Holly Jo said...

CONGRATS on using the scissors. Very liberating - or at least I thought so.

Joan said...

Is that a deep sexy cleavage-baring steek?? How very Lisa! ;-P

Tara said...

Oh my, you are a Steeking Queen! Congratulations! You make it look like so much fun!

Arctic Knitter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Arctic Knitter said...

Wow - I am soooo impressed - Steeking seems so scary; congrats on a job well done! You certainly are busy - when do you sleep? Can't wait to see the FO!

aksunflour said...

thank you for the steek pictorial. It is going to be very helpful.

Robin said...

ohhh steeking still scares the bejeezus outta me! :-O

Ghislaine said...

I'm still living steek-free. Looks like you handled this like a pro. Can't wait to see the finished product! I love the colour!

Unknown said...

Wow, well done, I feel quite giddy just reading about it. I have never steeked.