How to steek – the ultimate tutorial

A fail-safe tutorial on adding a steek to your knitting to cut it open

There’s probably no other technique in knitting that instills more fear into beginners than steeking. How on earth could ever intentionally cut your work and how will it not unravel? It seems like there are so many mistakes that could possibly happen and this tutorial is meant to provide you with all the tips and tricks so your steek will be an overwhelming success.

1. What is a steek?

A steek is a bridge of stitches added to a project in order to cut it open later on. A typical steek is 5 or 7 stitches wide. From an etymological perspective, the word derives from the proto-west Germanic *stekan – to stab, to sting, to put inside. In medieval times, this word was applied to sewing (think of it as continuously stabbing fabric) but was soon used to refer to the result of the sewing, i.e. a stitch.

Hundreds of years later, and when colorwork sweaters became popular in the 19th century, knitters on the Shetland islands famous for their Fair Isle knitting gradually used the word “steek” to refer to a vertical line of stitches or a bridge of stitches meant to separate – eyelets in lace patterns or stitches meant to be cut later on. However, the terms loops, fagot, or fagoting may have also been used, and possibly earlier.

The first documented published use of the term steek dates back to 1981 (The Complete Book of Traditional Fair Isle Knitting by Sheila McGrecor p31). It was only with the dawn of the internet and in the early 2000s that knitters online started to use the verb “steeking” to sum up the whole process. Originally, a steek was just the bridge of separate stitches.

2. Best yarn for steeking

There are multiple ways to reinforce a steek. However, even then the long-term security of the steek rests on the fact that the individual fibers of your yarn eventually felt together. As a result, steeking is best done using natural, untreated animal-based fibers – in particular sheep wool. Try to stay away from superwash yarns because they have been chemically treated to prevent any form of felting. The same applies to blends with nylon or acrylic.

These days, a lot of knitters in the nordic countries don’t even reinforce their steek before cutting. That’s because their yarns are so rustic and have so much friction that they stay put without it and will felt after the first wash & wear.

Now that doesn’t mean you cannot steek other fibers like cotton, acrylic, silk, linen, etc. There are ways to do this with back stitches (see below). However, you should definitely keep in mind the following:

Steeking is meant to be easy. It’s a technique that was invented because it’s easier to knit Fair Isle in one continuous round where you don’t even need to purl and you can clearly see the pattern at all times instead of only floats on the wrong side. At the very point when steeking becomes difficult and outweighs these benefits, you should consider going for a flat construction where you can add nice and sturdy selvage stitches instead.

3. The steek pattern

When you first hear or read the word steek, you are probably thinking of a complicated pattern or some nifty little trick that makes this all possible. But the contrary is the case. You simply add 5 or 7 stitches of simple colorwork right where you want to cut and that’s it.

The possibly neatest and safest way to do this is by alternating your two colors all the way to the top in corrugated 1×1 ribbing. This would be the repeat:

• Row 1: k1 color a, k1 color b, k1, color a, k1 color b, k1 color a, k1 color b, k1 color a
• Row 2: k1 color a, k1 color b, k1, color a, k1 color b, k1 color a, k1 color b, k1 color a
• etc.

(note: some also alternate the repeat between rows creating more like a checkerboard pattern but I found this to be both less neat and less secure)

You can also add steeks to non-colorwork projects. In this case, you can just knit the steek in pure stockinette stitch. If you want to go the extra mile, you could purl the central stitch, the stitch where you want to cut through. So, the added repeat would look like this:

• knit 3, purl 1, knit 3

5 or 7 stitches? Or even only 3?

Depending on your fiber and your project, you may opt to do a narrower steek. You can also just use 5 stitches or possibly only 3. Contrary to what you might think, even a 3-stitch steek will be quite secure. So, where’s the difference?

Typically you will pick up stitches from the steek later on, for example, to knit a button band when knitting a cardigan. When you do that, the steek will automatically – and without your doing – fold over towards the inside and create a sort of facing. The wider your steek is, the broader your facing.

However, in quite a lot of cases, people would like to hide the actual steek in a double collar or button band. In these cases, a 7-stitch steek will add a lot of bulk (aka a third layer) to that bit of your project. Typically a narrower steek of 5 or 3 stitches will look better inside a double layer – especially if you reinforce the steek with back stitches instead of a crochet chain (see below).

Marking your steek (optional)

If you are not trying to steek colorwork but a project in one color (or the colorwork starts a bit later into your project), consider using some scrap yarn and a couple of choice stitches to mark the very place you want to cut later on. This makes it a bit easier to follow the next steps.

4. Reinforcing your steek

Before you can cut your steek, you should typically reinforce it. You can do this in three different ways: With a crochet hook, with a sewing needle, and by felting. Typically, it’s better to block your project before that step. That’s because your project might stretch out quite a bit after your first wash and it’s easy to create a reinforcement that is too tight and will let your project pucker.

A) Crochet chain method

A time-proven method to prevent frayed edges after cutting your steek open is reinforcing the sides with a chain of crochet chain stitches. If you look at the centermost stitch of your steek, you will notice that it looks like a V and has two legs. And on either side, is another stitch that forms a similar V. And you basically just create two chains of chain stitches. One through the right leg of the stitch to the right and the left leg of the center stitch, and one through the right leg of the center stitch and the left leg of the stitch on the right.

This is best done with the same yarn but possibly a contrasting color so you can tell the stitches apart later on when it comes to cutting. To avoid bulk, you can opt to use a slightly thinner yarn.

Step 1: Start on the right side with a couple of chain stitches right through your cast-on until you hit the centermost steek stitch.

Step 2: Next, fold your project in half right along your centermost steek stitch.

Step 3: Go underneath the left leg of the stitch to the right of the centermost steek stitch and the right leg of that centermost stitch.

Step 4: Pull the yarn through those two legs and through your loop to finish the chain stitch.

Step 5: Pull the yarn through the left and right leg of the stitches one row above and create another chain stitch. (note: with colorwork, this second and all following rows are typically much easier to tell apart because the two legs are in a different color.)

Step 6: Repeat until you went through every single stitch on this side of your steek making sure that you did not skip a single one and also went through the cast-on and bind-off edges on either end.

Step 7: Repeat on the other side. The result will be a prominent central ridge with a ladder of stitches right in the center where you will cut through later on.

Note: This method is best done with only feltable fibers with quite a bit of friction. If you are using a superwash yarn or so, place the chain stitches with a margin of 1 or 3 stitches in the center. These buffer stitches will unravel and create a little frayed edge later on that might not be pretty. However, if you cut right through the center without that buffer, the resulting stubs/tails will be so short that they can easily slip through your chain stitches when stress is applied.

B) Back stitch method

For all yarns that are a bit more slippery and not feltable, or for all applications where you don’t want the extra bulk the chain stitch adds, you can reinforce your steek by sewing. While this can be done on a sewing machine, it’s often easier to control the tension by hand and a nice sharp tapestry needle.

Use a slightly thinner, but ideally speaking feltable, fiber to do the sewing. Your steek needs to be 3 stitches wide but it can also be 5 stitches wide. The mantra for the back stitch is always: two forward, one backward. Let me show you how:

Step 1: Identify the column you need to sew through. You are going to cut through the centermost stitch (marked in red). Then you need to sew right through the middle of the next stitch on either side. You can also sew through the 2nd if you want extra security.

Step 2: Start with a knot right around the cast-on.

Step 3: Pull the yarn right underneath the first bar between two stitches.

Step 4: Go back around that stitch and move two bars forward coming in from below making sure to pierce right through the middle of that bar with your tapestry needle.

Step 5: Go back one stitch and move forward two bars coming in from below. Make sure to pierce through the second bar as you come up.

Step 6: Repeat until you went through every single bar of that column of knit stitches, ending with a knot right through the bind-off edge.

Step 7: Repeat and line the other side with back stitches. Again, go right through the center of the first full stitch after the centermost steek stitch.

Note: Instead of back stitches, some people do zigzag stitches. I leave that up to you. But normally speaking, back stitches are perfectly secure – especially since you will typically hide the resulting frayed edge underneath some facing or inside a double button band.

C) Needle felting method

The last method only works with very rustic, dense, feltable fibers but for those, it can be both the fastest and the most secure method.

Step 1: Mark the outer edges of your steek using some contrast yarn.

Step 2: Using a needle felting tool, stab right into your steek until it felts light. Use some foam or a brush to cushion your project underneath.

Note 1: Be careful and frequently check the wrong side of your project. Often, it’s there where you create the loose fibers and felt, while the top still looks rather normal.

Note 2: Instead of a needle felting tool, you can also use your fingers. Lightly wet the steek and then just rub across your steek until it felts. This will typically happen quite fast. So be very careful that you don’t felt it too much (because then it will shrink). Also absolutely avoid felting the stitches beyond your steek as those are the stitches where you need to pick up stitches later on.

Step 3: Remove the auxiliary threads and your project is ready for cutting.

Important: Nothing speaks against combining these methods. So you can definitely start with a crochet chain, and then lightly felt the steek on top of that (as long as you stay away from the center stitch). This can add another layer of security.

5. Making the cut

In the last step, you finally have to make the cut. This step is actually remarkably anti-climatic if you’ve prepared your steek carefully. However, do it using sharp scissors with a nice tip, so you stay in control the whole time. A blunt tool will force you to hack around and it’s easy to get off the path.

Also, there’s no need to cut it all in one go. You can take your time and slowly cut each little stitch one at a time.

A) Cutting the crochet chain

Right in between the two crochet chain stitches is a (paired) ladder. Simply pull your knitting apart a bit and cut right through it. Make sure that you don’t accidentally cut into the crochet chain.

If you are scared, do watch my video over on youtube to follow along.

The result should be two very clean edges with a nice trim in crochet chains on either side. Be careful: These edges are not 100% secure yet. So don’t pull on them with a lot of force. But when left alone, these will definitely stay put. You may consider aiding the felting process with a needle felting tool but typically the first wash will do that for you.

Depending on the yarn you’ve used, this edge can often stay as it is.

B) Cutting the back stitches

If you’ve reinforced your steek with back stitches and by sewing, you need to cut right through the centermost stitch as well. It’s typically a lot easier to see and you can go through it quite fast (and remove the thread marking the center as you go).

Attention: This edge WILL typically unravel all the way to your line of back stitches. For now, treat it with care to make your life easier. Unlike the chain stitch method, this edge absolutely needs to be reinforced/faced.

C) Cutting the felt

For the felted version, you simply cut right through the center of it. It helps if you placed a purl stitch but it’s not entirely necessary.

If you accidentally veer a millimeter to the side, it’s no big deal either provided your steek is wide enough. The edge will be utterly secure regardless.

6. Securing your steek

In the last step, you have to secure your steek to prevent it from unraveling any further. This step is optional and will depend on your project. You have a million different options (like using ribbons or fabric to line the inside with a sewing machine) but I’m going to show you two ways to do it with the existing tools.

Please be aware that this is not an exhaustive list. I have a video over on YouTube that shows you how I pick up stitches in 10 different ways. So please use it if you need to catch up.

A) Picking up stitches

To pick up stitches, simply go right in between the outermost stitch and the first pattern stitch (or the last steek stitch). It will form a little “A”. Stair right on the cast-on and move all the way up.

Attention: In most knitting stitch patterns, the row gauge and the stitch gauge differ. Typically you need more rows to cover 5 cm/2 in than stitches to cover the same distance. A typically 5×5 square of stockinette stitch is maybe 12 stitches wide and 16 high.

As a result, you typically do not want to pick up 1 stitch for every row of your steek. Instead, you often need to skip stitches to prevent your edge from flaring out or curling. To solve this issue, simply count how many stitches you need to cover 10 cm/4 in in either direction right on your project. E.g. 24 stitches and 34 rows.

Then, divide the two numbers: 24 ÷ 35 = 0.7
And then multiply by 10 stitches: 0.7 * 10 st = 7 st

The resulting factor will tell you how many stitches you need to pick up for every 10 stitches of your steek/edge. In this case, I need to pick up from 7 and skip 3. If your result is 0.75, you’d have to pick up 15 stitches for every 20 stitches and skip 5, etc. Of course, you should distribute the stitches you need to skip evenly (eg. 3, skip, 3, skip, 3 skip, 1).

Note: Please be aware that you would have to knit a separate swatch if you don’t plan to use the same yarn for the edge.

You will notice that the resulting edge automatically pushes the steek to the inside. You can leave it as it is or loosely attach it to the wrong side using whip stitches.

B) Crochet border

Another valid method to reinforce the cut is using a crochet hook. This can be the preferred way if you steeked pockets on a sweater or so using back stitches.

Attention: Just like the example above, your crochet gauge will be different than your knitted gauge. You will have to test out on a swatch how many stitches you need to skip to avoid the edge from flaring. Sometimes it also helps to go down a hook size or two.

Simply use single or double crochets to line the border and follow it all the way up. Go through the stitch right next to your line of back stitches on either side. This will also secure any frayed ends on the inside of the border.

Naturally, you can adjust the crochet border according to your preferences. You can also pick more elaborate stitches if that’s what you enjoy.

But as I said, creating nice borders is a whole different topic and would require a different post.

Anyway, that’s how to steek. Comment below if you still have any questions.