Knitting Help - Steeking

To steek your knitting means to cut it with scissors, which is terrifying to most knitters. In this video I show you how to do a crocheted steek, which keeps the work from unraveling, and makes a clean, folded edge. Visit www.verypink.com for patterns, tutorials, and videos.

[@heathercunningham5347]

WOW! You just took something that seemed so frightening & debunked it - you continue to be an amazing resource. Thank you.

[@normabyrd274]

Steeking is what an insane person does when she runs out of paper to cut out paper doll chains. Seriously, this is the best tutorial I've found, and I desperately needed it to salvage a sweater I designed, but didn't like the way I attached my sleeves. The way the yoke ran, steeking was the only way to change it. THANK YOU!!!

[@dawncraig3340]

I have steeked with acrylic yarn... it was more than 5 years ago and the vest is still holding up through 3 kids. I agree with recommending wool but that's because I recommend wool for just about everything, not because of the steek.

[@Ikigai_Hinoki]

Thanks, I was just getting ready to try this on an acrylic sweater vest I just made for my 18 month old. I heard her say that about wool, but just thought I'd try it anyhow. Good top know. ;)

[@kswizzleizzle]

I've knitted all these years and never heard of steeking until I wanted to turn a scarf pattern in the round into straight ends. So well presented! Thank you!!

[@a.sobriquet6220]

This is the first time I’ve ever understood steeking…THANK YOU!

[@verypinkknits]

Cutting through knitted fabric in anything other than a "sticky" wool will just cause it to fall apart - each stitch is creating the structure for the stitch next to it. But sticky wool yarns will hold their shape, because the microscopic scales on the fibers make each section of the stitch cling to the shape of the knitted stitches. So the fabric holds its shape, even if the structure is destroyed (cut through).

[@suzieharrison861]

Heart rate coming down now. You are a terrific demonstrator and have made me believe this is not sheer insanity.

[@johanschneiders6293]

I thought the crochet would just pull right off, but i've tested it on a slippery acryllic yarn and it's suprisingly secure!

[@abcnu9711]

Johan Schneiders i needed this comment so badly, thank you so much for trying it out and for this brave sacrifice! I will boldly steek my first sweater to make it fit me better

[@kitcat-xn1mn]

​@@abcnu9711 hey I know your comment is from years ago but did it hold up ok with acrylic yarn? I have a yarn I'm dying to use but it's acrylic and I'm so scared of it falling apart. Why is this technique so scary XD

[@jesssmith8773]

@@abcnu9711that’s exactly why I’m here - made my sweater too big and trying to find a way to fix it by steeking; did yours work out?

[@leananshae]

Just as you said, "Not so scary afterall..." I let out the breath I'd been holding for the last minute there. Wow! I don't think I could ever attempt that. I mean, you'd do all that Fair Isle knitting -- we're talking weeks of intricate design pattern following -- and if your steeking doesn't quite work out, oh my!! You're a braver knitter than me!

[@verypinkknits]

Your best bet is to give it a try and see what looks best. The last steeked sweater I knit, I picked up the crocheted stitches. In the past, I've picked up a button band from the column of stitches just next to the crocheted stitches, further into the sweater. You can usually pick up ten stitches or so and get a good idea of how it will look. Good luck!

[@laurie2553]

This is such a fantastic tutorial. All of your's are ,but I was so terrified to try this specific technique. Now I think I definitely will, you took all (well most) of the fear out of it! Thank you so much!

[@andreasissons7766]

I didn't realize it was so easy. Plus it's so pretty with the crochet edging. Thanks for the helpful video.

[@quilterbydesign]

Fabulous explanation. I am a crocheter and asked a friend how to remove a hood from a sweater vest. She suggested I search for steeking -makes sense and I will try it with this GIANT hood. Your presentation is wonderful, no distracting background, words chosen very carefully and you sound very knowledgable. Thanks!

[@martinaovens3275]

I have watched your tutorial twice now before I steek and insert the sleeves into a Norwegian sweater for my younger son. I have never done it before and am nervous but your tutorial actually is giving me confidence.

[@verypinkknits]

Completely took away your fear? That's something! I still get nervous when I do it myself! haha Thank you for the note, glad the video helped you. :)

[@andelamb7523]

You have taken the fear right out of this whole process. Thank you! This is perfect!!

[@rayma2212]

You're awesome!! Thank you so much for your very clear and concise instructions... really, you're my 'go to gal' for all knitting explanations...and you give me the confidence to tackle things I've never done before... heartfelt thanks 😊

[@verypinkknits]

@MsKathy07 No, no mistakes in the video. Armhole steeks are cut from the shoulder area down to the underarm area. And yes - fair isle snowflake patterns are considered to be a traditional Norwegian design. I don't say anything to the contrary in video (or anywhere else).

[@JustFluffyQuiltingYarnCrafts]

Staci, you are the best! I have never heard of this term until I watched It's Raining Yarn's advent day 13 for 2022. I was mortified when I heard that the term referred to cutting knitted fabric, but your video was clear, concise and to the point and I totally understand the concept. Thank you! ❤

[@mrydjeski]

I’ve seen a few different ways to do this, but this one looks simple, neat, and confidence-inducing. Thank you for showing this technique.

[@hrachouhi87]

Super helpful! Thanks! I always watch your tutorials first when I need help ☺️

[@kimsimpson1274]

What a great, simplified demonstration. You've taken the fear out of it for me :)

[@carolyarbro8022]

Excellent tutorial! Easy to see the work close-up, excellent choice of different color for the crocheted steek so we can understand the concept more easily, and brief (not a lot of chatting). I'm going to hit the "support this site" button and make a contribution right now! Thank you!

[@donnaney5920]

Saw the term steek on a circular knitting machine FB page and had to check it out. I don't hand knit but I'm going to try this with my circular knitting machine. Thank you.

[@triciac6254]

Thank you! I love your great visuals and the way you break a lesson down. Delightful, as always.

[@patriciag7336]

You should make this a Halloween tutorial -- so scary! As always, your how to videos are the best!

[@karineweisshuhn-atelierkap8627]

Your method makes more sense to me than another one I saw. Thanks a lot!

[@verypinkknits]

@Louralee I wouldn't try this with a wool blend - best to use 100% wool. There is no need specifically to wet it to make it stick together, but once you finish knitting you always want to wash and block your work to make it look nice and even. Thank you for the compliment on my nails. I'm wearing an OPI color called "My Address is Hollywood". :)

[@ronitwildes3476]

Thank you very much-you made it simple for me -now i feel confident to try it on the fairisle sweater i am making. you explained the technique very well.

[@lindatreggett2604]

I purchased a sweater in Norway that had sleeves with a huge cuff on them. I wanted to try to figure a way to remove the cuffs and this method will be perfect. Thank you for your excellent teaching.

[@colette12341]

Thank you, I LOVE all your videos and the way that you are explaining everything.....Thank you thank you.

[@HavenLily]

This video is fabulous. You just completely took away my fear of steeking.

[@RachaelLynnMunson]

Great demo video! Really makes it seam much less scary than it initially did!

[@lynnlemonwknits255]

Thanks so much for this video!! I knitted my daughter's neckline on her dress a little Amal and will need to open and then add a button. This was so helpful!

[@slowfire2]

I'm glad you have captions as an option. It makes it possible to know what you are saying.

[@karenb136]

Thank you for this video. I never heard of steeking. That’s amazing!

[@JennieKrejci]

HOLY COW! This was amazing to watch, and I now think I can steek! Thank you!

[@susanvanvleck3957]

OMG,I like this way better than by machine. I could actually see what I was doing

[@Hitsugix]

Finally I found a video that explains this technique very well. Than you very much!! :)

[@joycosta5656]

I've been watching your videos for years, without commenting but I have to say, Your Vids r Great, I am a happy senior with years of knitting and life under my fingers, but I always learn something wonderful from your videos! Thank you, may I ask about your pattern for the. Grey cape pullover, from your earliest shows, it is a classic look, I love it and I would love to purchase it for 1 of my 2022 projects, could you pm me with guage of wool used and Price! Thank u again for helping a senior out!

[@lesmessbucilova2732]

I found myself holding my breath, screaming inside..."noooo don't cut your yarn...eeek!!!",but after the first snip of the scissors and the final outcome I was cool with it.

[@glendasmith7507]

Thank you for showing this so well. I just saw a pattern I wanted to try and it called for this. I never heard the term before.

[@kathrynrogers4079]

Another mystery explained. Thank you Stacy.

[@verypinkknits]

@mchllwoods Yes, this is only one method of steeking (and my favorite). There are others, including using a sewing machine to tack down the stitches, although that does not create the fold to tuck in the ends that this crocheted steek does. I don't know of a good tutorial for steeking with a sewing machine, sorry.

[@Prince_Silver]

I'm currently working on a sweater and the arm holes are a little too tight, so this might be the perfect solution to making them a bit bigger without redoing the entire thing. Thank you!

[@TrudySchwartzBurrill]

You are teaching me so much. Thank you for so many tortirials little and big both they are all taught well.

[@veesea8889]

I know this gas nothing to do with the tutorial, but I love your nail polish 😍 I'm an avid crocheter my mom is a knitter. I saw on another vid that you can use steeking on plain, one-colour patterns (i.e. not fair isle) so I'll show her this, should she one day want to turn, what we call in South Africa a jersey (a pull-over/jumper) into a cardigan. Thanks for the tutorial 😎

[@Heavenseeking]

Your videos are always fascinating! Even if I don't use the techniques in any immediate projects, I am really interested in all the tid bits I pick up from them! (And they inspire me to try different types of projects I hadn't considered. I have learned a lot of practical tips too that I use in my knitting all the time now.)

[@elainebmack]

Steeking! Yay! Liberation from oversized sweater and hats! I;m working on "downsizing" a winter hat right now.

[@tanujagoulet8701]

Thank you. This video helped very much for narrowing a garment that I knitted.

[@Cellottia]

That looks suspiciously like Magic to me...! But seriously, thanks for showing this: it's demystified steeking, the idea of which has caused cold chills to run through me ever since I heard of it. Now, I may even give it a try -- on a nice little swatch like yours. Cheers!

[@SeeSomethingSayIt]

THANK YOU! Great video, very clearly shown and explained. You're a very good teacher, thanks for sharing. I've just ordered and received a Jade Starmore design from virtualyarns, to do the firebird cardigan, a masterpiece! It will be my first steek ever, and it helped me to watch your video. The Starmore pattern doesn't do the crochet method, but I can see how this is a good method. THANK YOU for sharing so well. And I like your manicure too. :-)

[@darcerin]

A little voice inside of me keeps screaming, "Get those scissors away from that work!!"

[@verypinkknits]

LOL, I KNOW! But if you use the right yarn, it really isn't so scary. This video is a few years old, but I recently steeked a big sweater jacket:? www.ravelry.com/projects/verypink/arrowhead-cardigan

[@nancyholter5646]

I do love the crocheted steek, and this was an excellent demonstration of how to do it. But I must refute the 'fact' that you have to use sticky wool. I have used acrylic and even cotton - although I did machine stitch the steeks on the cotton one. The acrylic ones have been worn by young children and machine washed for nearly 20 years and are still in one piece. I did use a wider steek - 5 or 7 stitches for the placket, but I always do.

[@0yodelingpickle526]

rellay good video! clear instructions, quick and to the point!

[@skilljoy1597]

Good gracious! That wasn't so bad! Now I can pick that bohus stickney cardigan I botched!

[@samanthashears5665]

Love the sound effects!!!

[@JCAM-z9r]

Brilliant! Thank you for taking the fear factor out of steeking for me. This winter I’ve decided to make cardigans and sweaters and work with Lion Brand’s gorgeous Mandala Gnome yarn that creates a very lovely flowing “colorway” of stripes. I want to put a zipper on the front instead of buttons (learning to do something new). I machine knit on The Ultimate Sweater Machine and didn’t know, until now, how I was going to make that happen. God Bless!

[@pinkcashmere1908]

Yeah! Now I'll have to consider steeking a sweater soon

[@jainblack]

‘Not so scary after all’ - thank you for taking the fear out of steeking 😱

[@csdurch]

I do a sew and cut method. You can also run a small zig-zag stitch from the sewing machine beside the line you want to cut, on either side of the line. The zig-zag stitch holds the material wonderfully! Then, you just cut. Machine knitters do this a lot when cutting is needed for shaping when attaching a front band or collar.

[@joycezzz100]

And now thanks to you, I can steek my item. I am knitting a oh-land wool cardigan.

[@verypinkknits]

Mohair yarn is yarn made from angora goats. Another animal fiber, like wool.

[@autumnarasmith4737]

Thank you. This video really helped me understand how to do this! It is so hard to see what it going in with many of these!

[@mslaceyrose413]

That's really something! Thanks for taking the "scary" out of another knitting technique. 💟

[@HotRod12667]

I am making a cardigan out of self striping acrylic roving yarn (Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable) which is very "sticky" (I have had to tink a couple of times and it was hard to undo) and since I want the colors to match up on the two fronts, I decided to knit it as one and steek it.

[@verypinkknits]

I don't think it's necessary to use the same weight of yarn, but because the steek will show, it will probably look best if you do. The most important thing with yarn choice is to make sure you're using a "sticky" animal fiber. Hope that helps!

Fascinating! you make everything so accessible.

[@Caitibaer]

So cool! Way easier than I thought.

[@verypinkknits]

No - the fabric does not need to be fair isle for this to work. But it would be difficult to do it on anything except stockinette, since you need to be able to find the ladders between the stitches.

[@JoyOfGospeline]

Thank you. Very well explained even for me, as a none english native speaker. Great!

[@pinkpunk6587]

Best tutoring video ever

[@rosthornbury4244]

That was great. Thank you for such a clear demo.

[@lynnann96]

I taught myself to knit and I really thought I made this up! Where on earth did that word come from anyway!! thanks always for your wonderful demonstrations!!!!

[@jo-annefalconer6280]

Thanks so much for a lovely clear video. Would you pick up the band outside the crochet line so the knitted band hides the crochet?

[@peggyday9390]

Very nice job. Enjoyed your demo.

[@eatsleepquilt]

Fantastic video demonstration!! Do you think this technique could be used to create a button hole? So NOT steeking the full length, but a short portion...making a button hole

[@lizaschneider6056]

Hi! Amazing video as usual! Do I have to add additional stitches for the steeking? I wonder especially on the holes for the sleeves... Can we see some actual work you did using steeking? I'm very curious how it looks ☺

[@thatsmithlady28]

Amazing video, thank you for taking the time to explain this so thoroughly.

[@verypinkknits]

@MsBeautyObsessed Thank you! I'm wearing a new OPI color called "My Address is Hollywood". :)

[@verypinkknits]

I used fabric shears to cut the knitted fabric, and I don't believe that cutting through wool will dull the shears. But you would have to ask someone who knows more about it - I'm not an expert on scissors, and my shears are inexpensive.

[@NoraGreen-h8r]

Thank you so much! I’m just wondering when you pick up the button hole band you pick up from the crochet stitch.

[@lynettereilly9084]

What a handy tool to have up your sleeve( pardon the pun). Hopefully it will be as strong as a regular row without steeking. Great for knitting little things ( knitted animal clothes etc)

[@KnitandCrochetHeaven]

You made this look so easy. Thanks!

[@brianathompson1012]

You have the best videos! Thank you so much for this! Would you then pick up and knit into the crochet chain to add the button band?

[@verypinkknits]

Yes - well, you'll follow what your pattern says to do, but that's the normal next step.

[@brianathompson1012]

VeryPink Knits thank you for your reply :-)

[@lisa1277K]

Hello, really helpful videos! Thank you! Do you have tutorials about knitting pockets and which technique looks best? Many thanks

[@spiderwomanatl]

Whoa....you made things look a whole lot less scary! I suppose with enough planning, the button band can be build in as the knitting in round continues and THEN....when steeking takes place the buttonhole and a good place to put the buttons could be sewn in place. It seems that this technique could work for any style of knitting as long the woolly yarns are used. My knitting "soul" insists on a solid, matching yarn be there for a button band.

[@kathhollandful]

Absolutely brilliant - as usual! Thank-you.

[@MeredithSargent]

This was fascinating/terrifying. I've been meaning to learn how to do this ever since I saw someone do it to change the size of a shoulder hole. Not quite sure I'm brave enough to try it myself though. I'll have to do a small practice tube.

[@bethc8809]

Absolutely fantastic. Thank you!

[@feeshac1974]

I wonder if machine sewing a couple of rows on either side of the steeking line would work for nonfelting yarns? I see mittens cut from old sweaters and sewing the cut edges seem to hold up well after being sewn.

[@cheryll5496]

I've been wondering if I could knit a blanket in the round - no purling! - and do this mysterious steeking somewhere, not so mysterious now. Totally doable. Tedious, probably, but so is purling.

[@gosiamikolajczyk2882]

Hi, thank you very much for the video :-). I have a couple of questions: once you have cut through the steek , you get "pokey ends". Where do those ends lead to ? Will they not unravel ? Is the crochet chain holding the whole thing from unraveling ?

[@aidahartmann3473]

Staci, what was the Zimmerman/name of the book your referenced in the beginning? I thought I had all her books and don’t recall reading about Steeking.

[@vibhasharma5300]

Totally fascinating! Discovery for me. Thanks!

[@makalajames3878]

Will the steeked edges begin to unravel over time or if strained? I'm so nervous! My pattern suggests using a "cross stitch steek position." Do you know if that is interchangeable with this crochet method? I would much rather use a crochet hook than a tapestry needle...

[@bonnieb6734]

If you were indeed picking up stitches for a button band, where would you put your needle-into crochet stitches or one row in into the knit stitches? Nice technique! Have not seen crochet steak before! I'm a little late to this video-thank you for it!

[@dianemakes]

oh wow!!!! thank you!! you made that look so easy!

[@StoutsGMa]

I made a turtleneck pullover with super bulky yarn and find the turtleneck too bulky. I'm going to steek 90% of .one side and put decorative buttons on it. I'm thinking I'll have to crochet up 90%, then chain across or in place so when I cut the ladders it doesn't continue to run, then chain down the opposite side to the neck edge.

[@coachadi]

So I knitted a poncho: one front piece and one back piece. I didn't measure and seamed the pieces together with a 3 needles BO shoulder seam. Now the neck hole is too small. I am thinking of steeking to get a bigger hole for my head. I've never done it before and hopefully cutting sideways will work as well as you cutting upward. Finger crossed!!!

[@verypinkknits]

You might want to visit your local yarn shop for advice on this. From what you've just said, it sounds like you can undo some of the 3-needle BO to get a wider neck hole.

[@coachadi]

@@verypinkknits thank you. It seems very complicated to undo the 3 needles BO but it might just be in my head. Wish me luck! And thank you for replying to my comment!