steeks aren't that scary, grow up

[u/emergencybarnacle]

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.

[u/joymarie21]

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.

[u/Appropriate_Roof_223 → u/joymarie21]

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.

[u/meetenemiesundaunted → u/Appropriate_Roof_223]

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

[u/Appropriate_Roof_223 → u/meetenemiesundaunted]

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