A Knitter’s Blog

Several months back, I received and email from my friend, Karen, who wrote that her friend was knitting two sleeves at the same time. I thought this must be a slow news day since many knitters, including me, knit two sleeves at once.

As I read further, I was pleasantly surprised. Karen’s friend was knitting two sleeves at the same time on one circular needle with the same ball of yarn. She wasn’t using the one circ method commonly know as “Magic Loop”. Both sleeves formed one circle, not two. She had added steek stitches between the side stitches of each sleeve with the intention of cutting both steeks when she was done. She would then seam each sleeve as if it had been knit on straight needles.

I thought that this would have been a perfect solution for Saturday, the sweater with Harmony that I had just completed. The sleeve striping would have matched perfectly because I would have been using the only one ball of yarn. 

I had just designed a Fair Isle cardigan and was about to start knitting the sweater. (More about this sweater in the coming weeks). I planned on using steeks, so decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to try the two sleeves at once.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term ’steek’, it refers to a method of knitting in which you add stitches to bridge a gap. For example, if you wished to knit a cardigan completely in the round, you add stitches to the front opening, a bridge, to connect the two fronts. In this way, you can knit in the round. When you have completed the sweater, the bridge or steek stitches are cut, and the sweater becomes a cardigan.

The basics of steeking are another topic. Here, I will presume that you already know how to steek.

To work two sleeves at once using steeks, using a circular needle, cast on the required number of stitches for the first sleeve, place marker, cast on desired number of steek stitches, place marker, cast on the required number of stitches for the second sleeve, place marker, cast-on second set of steek stitches, place marker. Join. Consider this the beginning of the round, or the center of the last steek stitches as the beginning of the round.

Work both sleeves as directed by the pattern. Bind off the top of the sleeve.  Secure the  steek in preferred method, cut. Two perfectly matched sleeves that need seaming!

Filed under: Knitting, Techniques by cwulster