I’m finally getting somewhere with my Arrowhead cardigan!
The body is finished, and I’m on to the first sleeve.
I did run into a snag though. I was not paying a lot of attention to my yarn choice when I started this sweater, and it turns out that both yarns I’m using are superwash. Which wouldn’t be a big deal, except I need to steek for the sleeves and the front. I’ve steeked things before, and it wasn’t a big deal, but that was regular wool that can be counted on to stick together with a little encouragement. Not so for superwash. The directions say to use a sewing machine to stabilize the edges, but I don’t have one of those.
So what have I been doing about it?
Using wooly yarn to stabilize the edges by throwing down some lumpy rows of stitching. It’s not pretty, but it is working. The cut edges for the first sleeve are staying put, so I’m cautiously optimistic.
Any tips on steeking superwash yarn when you don’t have a sewing machine? Share them in the comments!
Quite A Yarn 
No help on steeking but that is a beautiful sweater.
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Thank you!
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I wish I could offer a suggestion, but so far I have never attempted a steek.
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On the other hand, your cardigan is looking terrific. The two yarns make a color ballet around each other.
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Thank you! The yarns do look good together 🙂 Even with the steeking difficulty, I don’t regret the yarn choice.
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That is looking really great!
I was paranoid the one time I did a steek so far, and I found things that suggested using reinforcing stitches. It looks like your solution will probably work just fine, though there’s always that Fabri-Tac stuff if you get too worried.
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That is a great idea! I didn’t even think of that!
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It turned out I didn’t need to reinforce my steek because the yarn was proper wool that stuck to itself, but I felt better doing it anyway.
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I’m not brave enough for steeking or even brave enough to cut in a heel. Best of luck.
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Thanks!
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This looks so good! There’s a crocheted reinforced steek, where you go along before cutting and pick up the edge stitches and sort of crochet chain them down. I did that on a gauge swatch that I steeked which was superwash. It might be harder to do since you’ve added the wool, and that seems like a good solution!
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Crochet reinforcing works really well too! Maybe I will do that for the cut down the front.
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It looks great! You can crochet reinforce your steek. It is pretty easy, as long as you have enough light to see your stitches.
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I think I will try that on the front steek – thank you!
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This is looking so beautiful!
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Thank you!
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I have read about doing a single chain stitch along each side of the steek area.
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Thank you! I might be trying that for the front steek,
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I’ve never steeked, but I remember reading a post about needle felting the edges before cutting working really well. If you have needle felting stuff, obviously, otherwise it’s no more useful than a sewing machine!
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As it happens, needle felting stuff just arrived!
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Awesome!
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Yes, it was definitely helpful!
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