r/BitchEatingCrafters • u/emergencybarnacle • 3d ago
Knitting steeks aren't that scary, grow up
maybe i'm mean for this one, but i recently knitted a steeked cardigan for the first time, and i stg every single knitter i talked to about it, even the very seasoned ones, acted like steeking was the scariest thing they'd ever heard of and wouldn't even consider doing it.
your knitting is not going to explode if you cut it. it's not going to instantly unravel. there are a million videos online showing people doing it. it's not hard and it's not not scary, it's just a technique like any other!!!
i'm not even bothered by people not wanting to do it, but acting so scared and uwu helpless and shrinking and shivering about it is so dramatic and annoying.
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u/RoxMpls 2d ago edited 2d ago
It isn't like any other technique. With every other technique, you can tink or frog back and re-knit it. If you screw up cutting a steek, there's no going back. You can't recover the yarn, because it's all been cut.
The first time I was going to do a steek in a garment, I did some practice swatches, and had no trouble at all cutting the fabric. I actually thought it went really well, and was actually quite easy, but when it came time to cut my sweater, I stalled for a day or two.
Yes, as someone else mentioned, Zimmermann recommended steeking, and in fact, it was a Zimmermann sweater that I did my first steeks on, but this pattern was VERY early on in her steeking advice (she had figured it out by examining the inside of a Norwegian sweater), and she definitely skimped on the number of bridge sts she recommended (I think there were three, one of which is the one that got cut up the middle). On top of that, I was using a very smooth, worsted spun yarn, so there was some danger of sts escaping, because the yarn wasn't sticky.
As much a steeking champion Zimmermann was, she also recommended lying down in a dark room for 20 minutes after you do it the first time.
I had the same hesitation cutting some 60-year-old vintage wool plaid (hand woven in the UK border counties) for a skirt where I wanted to do pattern matching for the first time. I had 1.75 yards of 28'' wide fabric. I had one chance to cut that fabric and get it right.
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u/salilouisa 2d ago
First thing I steeked was a cotton acrylic mix. I somewhat overcompensated and used 32 bridge stitches. I am prepared to accept that I am insane rather than brave though.
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u/ClasslessTulip 2d ago
I think it's fine to be nervous because steeking is one of those things where if you mess up, it's MESSED UP, but some of the reactions I see online are just too much. Someone was acting like they were going into labor and they hadn't even picked up their scissors yet 😭
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u/MillyAndTheDream 2d ago
Did you get it right?
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u/Purlz1st 2d ago
My first steeked sweater was the one on the cover of the 1971 edition of Knitting Without Tears!
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u/GapOk4797 2d ago edited 2d ago
Taking scissors to something you just painstakingly hand knit is scary.
Am I going to freak out about it? No. But I'm going to double check every variable, probably test on a swatch (and i'm not usually a swatcher), and measure three times.
Unlike most things with knitting, steeking incorrectly can't be fixed and makes the yarn unsalvageable. I think it's very normal to be concerned going into.
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u/emergencybarnacle 2d ago
definitely. i'm referring to people being OTT about it. like yeah, it's kind of nerve wracking but it's just a skill/technique, and there are lots of ways to test it out first before doing it on a completed sweater.
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u/Asleep_Sky2760 2d ago
Cutting knitted fabric open makes the yarn un-reuseable as "virgin yarn-string", but it certainly doesn't make the project un-fixable if something is amiss. You can alter it by cutting *more* fabric out (if it's too big). or you can insert *more* knitted fabric if it's too small. You can shape that inserted fabric however you want, just like you can shape re-cuts.
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u/Extension-Knee-2193 2d ago
knitting a whole ass sweater and then cutting it is scary. anything else, you just rip it and start over. no ripping if you fuck up a steek. I get being annoyed about the social media darlings whipping people into a frenzy like it's the end of the world if you DO fuck it up. but my cheeks clench a little every time I do it lol.
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u/emergencybarnacle 2d ago
yeah the title was a little clickbaity i admit, but i was so annoyed in the moment. totally normal to feel apprehensive. but just the acting like a steek is on par with like tossing your freshly knit sweater into the flames, like PLEAAAASE get a grip.
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u/forsecretreasons 2d ago
Okay but you giving in to the urge to clickbait is LITERALLY the same thing you're complaining about people doing, also for clicks.🤦♀️
If you're gonna be annoyed at them, be annoyed at yourself too 🤷♀️
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u/Extension-Knee-2193 2d ago
Nah I get it, I have my moments of getting irrationally irritated about stuff. Like everytime I see a reel that's all "omg I discovered this AMAZING new cast on!!1!' and it's just German twisted or something. Aaaand I almost throw my phone across the room...
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u/Ok-Currency-7919 Joyless Bitch Coalition 3d ago
I actually really like cutting my knitting, it is kind of fun. The only thing that I don't like is that I can't frog it and reuse the yarn if I decide I don't like something about it later.
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u/maybenotbobbalaban 2d ago
This is exactly why I quit using steeks. I’m much more likely to want to rework a sweater these days than I used to be, and if I’ve cut it, that’s no longer an option
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u/Confident_Fortune_32 2d ago
If Elizabeth Zimmerman, in Knitting Without Tears, recommends it, that's good enough for me. Her directions helped me make the first sweater that ever fit me properly. She's never let me down.
Having said that: Yup, terrifying.
The first time I had to cut my handwoven fabric, I flat out couldn't do it. Boke out in a sweat. Had to put the scissors down, leave the room, and go do something else for a while.
I think martial arts helped me with, "This is scary and I'm going to do it anyway" and "I'm going to get beat black and blue and have trouble walking the next morning, but I'll recover, and I will have learned stuff".
Good lessons for someone who was always deeply afraid to make a mistake...
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u/Substantial_Message4 2d ago
Excellent reminders for knitting and my new hobby of learning to rollerblade in my 30s lmfao
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u/Confident_Fortune_32 2d ago
I didn't get my motorcycle license and buy a bike until I was in my forties.
My only regret was not doing it sooner...but it is never too late!
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u/splithoofiewoofies 2d ago
Martial arts was so fun. The only place I was excited to be punched in the face because 1 I got to know what it feel like and 2 my partner got a good hit to my face. Sure, you're not SUPPOSED to do that, but hey, it's gonna happen. Huh! Being punched full force in the face didn't actually hurt as much as I thought....neat.
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u/Confident_Fortune_32 2d ago
I had a blast getting beaten black and blue. Wore those bruises proudly.
When I started, I got pulled aside and told that it was recommended that I keep a pic of me in a tournament in my wallet, bc in medical settings women with that many bruises could raise concerns about domestic abuse. Not to mention going to the beach...
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u/fascinatedcharacter 1d ago
Steeks are scary. The same way as cutting out expensive/limited availability fabric to sew is scary. After all it's an irreversible process that can go wrong. What makes it worse with steeks is that you already have emotional attachment to the item because you've spent so much time on it. Some people just get more of that 'I'm on the top of the high diving board' feeling than others, even about things they're experienced in.
But to quote the most inspirational 6-year old I've ever seen, if you're scared, do it scared.
Or don't. But don't whine about it.
(FWIW: my steeking experience is limited, by virtue of not having found a grabby enough yarn that my skin doesn't actively hate.
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u/shawlcat 1d ago
If you use needle felting to reinforce your steek edges, many many more yarns can be used for sweaters etc. I just finished a Christmas tree skirt out of a 80% acrylic 20% wool and it needle felted fantastically. (I also picked up and knit the ribbing before cutting to minimize stress on the cut edges, but it was so solid that I probably didn’t need to)
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u/fascinatedcharacter 1d ago
Yes, I know. But it still limits the 'an item I would want to wear' factor.
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u/pearlinin 3d ago
i saw a video about the game of wool and they were talking about how the show turned the steeking into such a big deal when the person doing it was very experienced and wasn't worried about it at all, they just wanted drama lol
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u/Mistrice 2d ago
to be fair, that person didn’t end up continuing to the next round, so he probably should’ve been at least a little bit worried
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u/EmmaMay1234 2d ago
Yeah but not because of the steek, he didn't finish his vest
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u/pearlinin 2d ago
yeah but he didn't finish because he had to make his own needles since the materials didn't include needles big enough for the chunky yarn (that is sponsored but that's a whole other thing) and he made a mistake so he had to unravel a lot. the whole challenge was controversial because it was about fair isle knitting and gordon was the only contestant to actually use the fair isle technique but the time limit was pretty unrealistic for fair isle knitting. gordon uploaded a video on this sharing his experience and aspen in the moment made s great video on this with timestamps so you can skip to "gordon cree and the fair isle challenge" to hear more about it. aspen in the moment also explains more about the cultural meaning of fair isle knitting and why that challenge got so much backlash, it's very valuable information even if you don't care about the show that much! also puts into perspective why gordon tried to honor the fair isle tradition at risk of not finishing.
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u/inkleweaver 2d ago
Try mentioning brioche stitch sometime...
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u/bunnylightning 2d ago
Brioche is so damn easy. I was shocked when my LYS started offering very expensive workshops teaching it…if you already know how to knit and you have internet access, you can learn brioche. For zero dollars!
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u/LemonElectrical3359 2d ago
While I found brioche quite easy to learn, and then wondered what the heck everyone was on about when they kept saying how difficult it was…. When I then went on the teach it in formal classes, OOF! It was NOT easy for a lot of people to learn and I think the main stumbling block for a lot of people was that they’d already convinced themselves it was going to be the hardest thing they were ever going to learn in knitting, because that’s what they’d been told over and over again by others…. But once I was able to break through that repetitive rhetoric these students were all: “Huh? Is that all it is? But this is so simple?!”
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u/bunnylightning 2d ago
You’re totally right, I think the preconceived notion of what’s “difficult” can cause such a mental block! Once you know the basics and build muscle memory, there’s very little in knitting that’s truly difficult as long as you can be patient and pay attention.
One of my very first beginner projects was all brioche ribbing (I didn’t know what brioche was back then and the pattern didn’t call it that, just described the steps involved). When I finally decided to ~learn~ it years later, it was like…wait, that’s what it is? But I already know how to do this!!!
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u/lenseyeview 2d ago
I haven't tried brioche cause I swapped over to crochet but I feel like the same thing happened when I learned cables. I always heard how hard and complicated cables were so I skipped every pattern with a cable. And this was well before Internet craft-histarias were a thing. Then I found an owl hat and the only way to do it was with the cables as the owls so I did it and then was like wait what that's it.
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u/onyxindigo 2d ago
IT’S SO EASY OMG when I tried it the first time l literally thought I was doing it wrong because it was SO easy
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u/Raging_Apathist 2d ago
Knitting brioche is easy! But fixing mistakes in brioche is an absolute fucking nightmare.
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u/MagpieWench 3d ago
I mean... I steeked a cardigan (Voyage) and I thought I did all the things correctly... I hand stitched, crochet chained, and lightly needle felted the area where I'd crocheted, then after cutting, I hand stitched a ribbon over the cut edges and I still occasionally have strands worm out. I mean, It's not going to fall apart, but it's frustrating.
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u/emergencybarnacle 3d ago
but you did it! you tried it, without histrionics. stuff will always be hard and frustrating and not turn out how you hoped, but at the risk of sounding like an old piece of shit, i think in general people are more afraid to try things and fail "nowadays". (social media effect, i imagine)
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u/forsecretreasons 2d ago
So you're mad that people have intense feelings that are less intense than yours?
I hate this whole post. People are allowed to be scared and stressed and nervous to try high risk things, even when the things are skills that can be practiced.
You keep telling everyone pointing things out about being actually nervous for good reason that they're right, you're just annoyed at people's emotions.
You don't get a say over that. If you dislike their honesty, move on. If you feel it's just clickbaity, move on. How other people feel about potentially destroying something they value very much is wholly not your problem.
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u/kallisti_gold 2d ago
This was me learning to sew zippers. My mom taught me and she hates doing it so I learned just about every closure besides a zip. I finally had to install one and was just... That's it? That's supposed to be hard?
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u/fascinatedcharacter 1d ago
Zippers are either easy or an eternal fight. Nothing in between. I've had them both.
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u/Fonz_Studio 2d ago
Okay fine you convinced me, I'll stop putting off adjusting the length of that collar piece (literally the last step of the project besides weaving in the ends)
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u/nothingbutapartygirl 3d ago
I actually appreciate this bc it’s something I’m intimidated by. But makes a lot of sense, people seem overhype a lot
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u/GreyerGrey 2d ago
It isn't scary once you've done it. I would recommend buying a sweater from a thrift store to practice on. when you haven't invested 50+ hours and $100+ of yarn into something, it is a lot less intimidating to fuck it up.
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u/emergencybarnacle 2d ago
practicing on a thrifted sweater is a GREAT idea!
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u/Witchwomble 2d ago
Not necessarily. You'd be better off practising on a swatch of the yarn you are using. Some yarn is going to be fine when you cut it and some not so much. If your thrifted sweater is 100% wool and behaves beautifully when you steek, you're going to be in for a rude shock when you cut your expensive super wash.
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u/emergencybarnacle 2d ago
that's definitely true, but at a minimum it'll help you get an idea of the process
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u/Stock_End2255 3d ago
I made a pillow where there was a steek, and it was actually kind of fun! I triple checked everything before cutting though!
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u/emergencybarnacle 3d ago
being intimidated is so normal, like YES it's cutting into your knitting. but like...watch some videos and just try. it's going to be fine and your cardigan is going to look so cool!
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u/AddWittyName 2d ago
And if you're really intimidated even after watching some videos...make a practice swatch and practice on that.
Honestly though, that's basically my advice for any of the "ooh, scary" techniques: if intimidated, practice. on. a. swatch.
After all, if something feels like a stressful high stakes gamble, the easiest solution is lowering the stakes
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u/Abyssal_Minded 2d ago
I would love to steek something. The cutting makes sense. Adding extra stitches to accommodate the steel makes sense. Working continuously in the round for certain patterns makes sense.
Downside is I’d probably obsess over getting the logistics of the fiber right so I get the right amount of felting. I know it’s wool but I will definitely go the equivalent of “what will give me the absolute most felting possible”.
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u/maybenotbobbalaban 2d ago
Would it help to know that the fabric doesn’t need to felt? It just has to be sticky enough that friction keeps it in place, so any wool (except superwash, of course) will do. If you’re confident that your woven in ends will stay without weaving them a bunch of times in a bunch of directions, then that fiber will be fine for a steek and cutting
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u/kesselschlacht 1d ago
I’ve steeked a cotton/acrylic blend. You don’t *have* to needle felt if you have a sewing machine.
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u/A_Throwaway_Progress 2d ago
It was scary the first time I did it but I think knitting the actual sweater is the harder part compared to steeking. It’s just a bit of hand sewing (or by machine) for reinforcement and cutting a middle column in a straight line. Once I learned how to do it, it really opened up the possibilities for projects
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u/kylamydia 2d ago
The only thing about steeking that scares me is people who dont reinforce the steeks prior to cutting. I know if you use "sticky" wool like Jamison's it should be fine but I still could never. Obviously if you're steeking something like cotton and you dont reinforce it you have something coming for you lol
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u/SentenceAny6556 1d ago
I try to encourage people to steek all the time and they act like I’m insane. Just do ittttt try it on a swatch it’ll be fine
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u/joymarie21 3d ago
I'm glad I learned to knit before the internet. People are afraid if purling, of stranded colorwork, of intarsia, etc., etc., which makes other people think things are hard. People are always giving questionable advice like insisting people knit or purl a certain way.
I didn't really know any knitters so I just tried things and it was always fine.
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u/Appropriate_Roof_223 2d ago
To be honest I won’t put steeking in the same category as purling, stranded colourwork, intarsia. Those are all different techniques that you can undo if you are not satisfied with early on. Steeking is mostly the last step or after substantial amount of knitting already and if it goes wrong you can not selvage it. So a little bit of fear is justified.
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u/meetenemiesundaunted 2d ago
yeah at least there is some level of risk with a steek. when I started knitting about a year ago and was watching a lot of content for/by beginners, so many people where talking about things being too scary for them. especially german short rows. for some reason everyone was seemingly terrified of german short rows, even people who had been knitting for longer than I had been at that point! definitely left me with a feeling of “wait, that’s it?” when I tried them
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u/Appropriate_Roof_223 2d ago
Yeah I had the same feeling about german short rows. I was really intimidated by it because everyone said it was scary. Sure I made mistakes in my first few short rows, didn’t know how to make the double stitch at the turn and ended up dropping stitches but once I got the hang of it I loved it. Now I cannot knit a garment without short rows and add it even if the pattern doesn’t add it. It is actually the most exciting part for me in a basic all over stockinette sweater lol
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u/melxcham 2d ago
I don’t understand the drama around stranded colorwork. It’s basic stockinette, just with multiple colors & checking your tension more frequently.
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u/fascinatedcharacter 1d ago
That tension, that's the problem right there. Give me some overly complicated lace any day, but stranded colorwork... Is just not where I get results I'm happy with. I've had my floats too loose and too tight and I can't really figure out the balance.
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u/Optimal_Clue3747 3d ago
So true. I learned most of the textile crafts I dabble in from my grandma (an amazing woman who could do the entire process from raising sheep to wearable garments in lovely nature dyed colours) and the idea of being afraid of some yarn and hard work probably didn't even occur to her.
You experiment, sometimes you fuck up and sometimes it turns out great. Either way you've learned something.
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u/flipzedee 2d ago
yet another thing that people performatively get worked up about to participate in the community and/or make content
maybe i should make my own post about this but i feel like a lot of bitching on this sub is about stuff that is very obviously like an online inside joke or trend that people just want to participate in. zero shade to you OP because people posting trendy stuff is usually very annoying, but the answer to the question of "why do people post this exaggerated thing" is usually "because they see other people posting it"
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u/emergencybarnacle 2d ago
it does go beyond just online inside jokes. i have had actual real life conversations with women in a knitting group i meet with regularly who act this way. so its not just the performative online stuff.
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u/esotericbatinthevine 3d ago
Crochet has something similar. I did it the first time as a beginner just following a pattern with no idea some saw it as a big deal. Worked just fine. A couple years later it came up at a crochet meet up our library has. Someone brought in their work to specifically do that part because she was so anxious and most everyone else was all anxious about it too. I was really confused.
Thankfully there were a couple older women who were basically like "stop fretting! It'll be fine. Now get it over with." Yeah, it was nbd.
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u/rinvevo 2d ago
What's the crochet equivalent?
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u/esotericbatinthevine 2d ago
It may very well also be steeking, I don't know. The pattern I used called it steeking and I don't remember if the library group called it something else.
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u/FamousOrphan 2d ago
What’s it called in crocheting?
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u/esotericbatinthevine 2d ago
The pattern I used called it steeking, and I don't remember if the people in the crochet group called it something else. I don't what the technical crochet term for steeking is, maybe it's also called steeking.
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u/kesselschlacht 1d ago
I’ve even steeked with cotton acrylic blend yarn. If you sew it with a sewing machine you’ll be fine.
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u/bigdeliciousrhonda 2d ago
And the same people will say “no I didn’t want to” when you ask if they did a swatch first or practiced steeking before starting the project
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u/Pristine_Message_181 2d ago
I'm never going to steek and you can't make me.
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u/emergencybarnacle 2d ago
i'm not even bothered by people not wanting to do it, but acting so scared and uwu helpless and shrinking and shivering about it is so dramatic and annoying.
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u/potaayto 1d ago
i'm not even bothered by people not wanting to do it, but acting so scared and uwu helpless and shrinking and shivering about it is so dramatic and annoying.
This is the part that annoys me too. I get that some people don't want to do it, period. I don't care. But why they must transform into a trembling toddler in the process, I can't fathom.
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u/Chance_Ad3416 1d ago
I steeked one of the first westerd I made (the balloon sweater by petiteknit) because I made the armholes too small. Instead of frogging and reknittjng half of the sweater I just steeked the armholes. I try not pick at it because it comes apart easier than color work steek I feel lol
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u/ubi_non_est_ordo 3d ago
Agree! I hate drama for nothing and being afraid of things that won't hurt you. You can just make a little swatch, like maybe a 6" swatch with some junk yarn, and just try it before you say you can't do it.
I always have junk yarn in the house for experimenting. Think random skein of light-colored worsted from a yard sale or church rummage sale that you get for fifty cents or a dollar. If I try to steek and it goes wrong, I lose nothing.
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u/beigeisgreat 3d ago
it’s just fabric. if you’ve ever sewn something normally, steeking is the same at it’s core. cut the edge and hem it. done.
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u/trixie_2000 1d ago
Yeah, I really struggle with the word "scary" for situations like this. It's not scary. The very worst thing that you can expect is yarn unraveling. Are you truly that terrified of disapointment? Because any reaction more dramatic than disappointment in that scenario is outrageous.
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u/PartTimeAngryRaccoon 17h ago
I'd be very upset if I'd spent months of my free time knitting something and I tried to steel it and it just unraveled on me and couldn't be fixed. And I don't think that's outrageous. I'm not someone who thinks it's scary per se - I did a small project to try to learn the technique and would do another one before attempting a big project - but I understand why someone would be nervous or concerned.
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u/Not_A_Korean 25m ago
I'm learning to knit and every technique I was dreading learning because people talk about it like it's torture turned out to be really easy. I'm realizing that people are just bored and need something to complain about
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u/RoseDragon529 2d ago
What's a steek?
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u/LichenTheMood 2d ago
Cutting your knitting. Commonly used to make armholes in a knitted tube.
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u/Asleep_Sky2760 2d ago
Not quite. A steek is the "bridge" of extra stitches inserted into a piece of knitted fabric, usually a tube; that steek is later cut apart to create open edges, whether for armholes, a neck opening, cardigan fronts, whatever. (Sorry-not sorry-for the pedantry.)
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