Letters
Daytripper Cardigan: Steek and Button Band Tips
Dear Kay,
So close!
I’m almost done with my Daytripper Cardigan by Mary Jane Mucklestone from Field Guide No. 17: Lopi. Highest recommendation. I love this thing.
The Steek
Last week, I hacked open my Daytripper (Ravelry link) to transform it from a tube into the beginnings of a cardigan. The cardiganing!
Cutting a steek to create an open front is good fun. And this design in particular is a great project for a first-time steek.
The steek behaved beautifully as I chopped away, and it was not hard at all, and I did in front of a Zoom crowd!
Such a 2021 moment.
How I Did It
My strategy on this steek was to try something new. I’ve done steeks in a number of ways, but I’d never done one using thread rather than yarn. It seemed exotic, this mixing of thread and yarn. It also seemed like a bulk-reducing maneuver, which was desirable in this case of this steek because . . .
I knitted the steek totally and completely wrong.
The pattern clearly sets up a 6-stitch steek. I, on the other hand, made it only 3 stitches wide. And I didn’t discover this discrepancy until I’d finished the whole thing. God only knows what I did to make the stitch count come out right: reckless and wanton decreases? I have no idea.
It wasn’t a disaster, though, because a) Léttlopi is a steek-friendly, woolly yarn. It wants to hang together. And b) 3 stitches is plenty of steek width when working at this large gauge.
I threaded up my sewing needle with buttonhole thread, black for easy viewing. (I don’t have a sewing machine, but I’m handy with a sewing needle.)
I stitched this while looking at the front, but I’m showing you the back side because the stitching sinks into the stitch on the front side. You can see it better here.
Backstitch in this case goes really fast.
Up one side of the steek, down the other. This shows only one of the two lines of backstitching. All those ends you’re seeing land in the middle of the steek, to be trimmed away after cutting the steek.
The Needle Felting
I wanted to make sure my too-skinny steek would hold up, so I decided to do a bit of needle felting to really glue that sucker together.
Here’s my QVC moment demonstrating how the Needle Felting Gizmo works with the Felting Brush Pad Thingie. Missing from this photo is the actual piece of knitting being needle felted. It goes on top of the Felting Brush Pad Thingie, and you do it flat on a tabletop, and it really is quite amazing.
Once you’ve stabbed it 30 times or so per inch, the back of your work looks like a furry mess. Which is the goal: the fibers are all felted together in a way that keeps the stitches from unraveling.
This is the front side of the steek flap after cutting—you can see how nicely fuzzy the felting made the yarn to further secure it. And the steek flap folds back when you pick up stitches for the button band. (It’s a cool bit of engineering.)
Here’s the back side of the steek flap, gratifyingly dense and chewy:
It’s interesting how the back of the steek flap is all furry yet the front is not. I mean: it’s mildly interesting. Not fascinating or stunning or anything.
The Button Band
This finishing moment took a grand total of 1.5 episodes of The Great Pottery Throwdown. Fastest button band ever!
These buttonholes are nothing more than a yarnover/knit 2 together. I like the simplicity of them.
And here’s the full view of this, still a little damp after I gave it a nice long soak. The Léttlopi blossomed. It’s fluffier.
Now I’m off to find 8 buttons. It’s my favorite part of finishing a cardigan.
Love,
Ann
Your cardigan is lovely, Ann! You give me courage!! I especially appreciate all the details of the process AND that you talk about doing the width of the steek all wrong. It is wonderful (and a relief) to have such good company in knitting mistakes!!
I’m a few rows into the bottom chart of my Daytripper, and looking at these photos I realize that I messed up the colors! I continued with the main color instead of changing to a contrast. It would look fine the way I’ve done it, but since my goal is to use All The Colors, I think I’ll rip back a few rows and redo. (I’m also pondering whether to use the same colors on the ends of the sleeves as on the hem, or maybe swap the placement of the colors. Or a different color on each sleeve? It could be pretty epic!)
Steeking question: do all these ends in the middle of the steek need to be woven in? It seems like the sewing and/or felting will secure the yarn sufficiently, and I don’t want to take the time if it’s not necessary.
No need to do anything at all with those ends! Just leave them.
After you cut along the middle of the steek, you can just trim the ends to line up with the cut edge.
i also have a 3 stitch steak panel – it may be something that could use a clarifying note in the pattern!
I’m ready for the steek and am also going to do the needle felting.
thanks for the tips!
This looks amazing! I cannot wait to start mine because I borrowed heavily from your color palette. Unfortunately, my yarn is in NC and I am in LA but the yarn and I will be together again in late June and it will be a joyous reunion.
Great save! Thanks for letting us in on the details-very tricky that felting idea!
Its beautiful – great job! I’m stuck, stuck I tell you, on the idea of 8 buttons. One of my superstitions (because I don’t know where I made up this rule from) is that cardigans need an odd number of buttons. Am I the only one?
My button thinking is just how many buttons are needed to close the front without gaps–it’s all about the proportion for me. (She said, walking under a ladder with a black cat in the path and a broken mirror on the floor!)
The ‘centering’ one being at the ‘bustpoint’
Designer sweaters usually (not always) have an odd # of buttons. Not so much a superstition as a design guideline. Burberry cardigans: https://us.burberry.com/womens-knitwear/style=cardigans/
I am in that camp too. A button at the middle, the rest divided by two to either side?
Any suggestions on where to buy a needle felter? I didn’t see it in the shop.
I linked to the tool in today’s post–here it is again:
https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/shop/needle-felting-tools/
Amazon
Wait wait! We totally carry these in the MDK Shop and would truly love it if you’d shop with us! https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/shop/needle-felting-tools/
So you blocked it after you steeked and did the button bands. I’m right behind you—have a third of the second sleeve to go. Was planning to block before steeking. What would be an argument against that?
Mary Jane would applaud your plan–she thinks blocking before steeking gets stitches to fluff up and start to hang together. Makes sense. I don’t think either method is wrong–I did want to block the button bands, for fluffitude and uniform texture, so that’s why I waited to block it until after I steeked.
I needle felted my last couple of cardigans before cutting the steaks open. What a game changer! I’ll never look back!
If you needle felt do you still need to do steek reinforcement? Like the back stitch sewing Anne did, or the crochet as in pattern?
Hi Marilyn! After doing my belt-and-suspenders reinforcement plan of backstitching PLUS needle felting, I think it would be fine simply to needle felt it. It’s a sturdy flap after all that stabby business with the needle felting tool.
Thank you, thank you. This is what I’ve been looking for – pictures and all.
Love your color palette!
I love it! Thanks for sharing all of your details – I’m still afraid to cut a sweater, but would rather learn to do that than NOT knit in the round. One question – is this yarn itchy?
Since cardigans are usually worn over something else, I don’t think of it as an issue, plus it’s such a personal thing. It does fluff up and soften somewhat after wet blocking, but it’s not merino. I’m guessing you might not be happy with it worn right next to your skin, but everyone’s different when it comes to itchiness.
I am still awaiting a future episode of outrage to fuel my needle-felting stabbing session with tools bought from you guys. Never let a bit of outrage go to waste when knitting creativity can benefit! Love that buttons are your favorite part, Ann. I hear of so many cardigans lying fallow for lack of button enthusiasm. Can’t wait to see the ones you choose.
Thanks for your always helpful information. I’m in the middle of a button and, it no steeling involved. What I really wanted to tell you is that I used my needle felting thingie to mend some moth holes in my 40 year plus Pendleton wool blanket. It worked great and now I have coin sized clouds resting on the top. I don’t mind at all that they show up a little!
Needle felting the steek before cutting: Brilliant!
Ann,
What are your colors that you used in your daytripper?
Mary Ann