Fearless Knitting: Steeking

Knit Together

with Cynthia MacDougall

Fearless Knitting: Steeking

The very thought of cutting into knitting can cause some knitters to hyperventilate harder than when the needles get pulled out of a fine lace shawl. That is why nothing puts terror into the heart of a knitter more than steeks. A steek is defined in Debby Robinson’s Encyclopedia of Knitting Techniques as “a plain band of several extra stitches, used by traditional fairisle [sic] knitters.” In The Complete Book of Traditional Knitting, Rae Compton describes steeks as a Norwegian technique, but does not label them as such. Given the common belief that Fair Isle knitting is closely related to Nordic knitting, it is no surprise to see steeking described as a Norwegian technique. It's not the knitting of the steeks that is scary, it's what you do to them. Once knitted, you cut right through the centre of the steek. For most knitters, that’s the scary part. Steek is a Gaelic word, meaning ‘to close,’ as ‘steek the gate.’ It is also defined as “the interstices of any woven or knitted fabric, stitch.” Many knitting books describe steeks but list them under ‘cut’ or ‘cutting’ in the index. In The Illustrated Dictionary of Knitting, Rae Compton refers to ‘cut and sew’ knitting. Elizabeth Zimmermann used steeks for the armholes of her Drop Shoulder Sweater in Knitting Workshop but described them as “cut armholes.” She also used the same technique for the Kangaroo-Pouch neckline described in the same book. I have three theories why knitters have such a fear of steeks. The first one is that most knitters were taught from an early age that cutting into knitting is bad – undeniably bad. The second theory is that most of us believe that knitting can be made to an exact shape, so there is no earthly reason to cut it. The third theory relates to ‘just in case’ thinking: once the knitting has been cut, the yarn can never be unraveled and re-used – knitting cannot be cut in case it is necessary to re-use the yarn someday. Yet, our knitting forebears, who can easily be described as thrifty, routinely made garments with steeks and cut their knitting. Why? Steeks have two primary functions. They allow a pullover to be worked in the round from the bottom all the way to the shoulders and they make it possible to make a flat piece of knitting in the round. Knowing that steeks were generally used for color stranded knitting, there is no doubt in my mind that they were invented so the entire piece could be knitted with the right side of the work facing the knitter, alleviating the need to do color stranding on wrong side rows. Knitters who like to make sweaters in the round to the armhole but grapple with tension differences between inthe-round and back-and-forth knitting can use steeks to achieve even tension throughout. Steeks need not be used on color stranded knitting projects only. They can be used to make any piece of flat knitting on circular needles. Knit the item in the round with a steek, then cut the knitting to make it flat. This works particularly well when there is a benefit to having the right side facing the knitter at all times, such as twisted stitch patterns that twist on every row. Steeks can be applied to straight or shaped areas of a garment. Straight steeks are often used on the centre fronts of cardigan sweaters and for the armholes of drop-shouldered sweaters. They can also be used in shaped areas as v-necklines or triangular shawls. Historically, steeks were worked on garments made of pure wool and were about five stitches wide. They can be used on fabrics made of other fibers with the following suggestions: On superwash wools or acrylics, add several stitches to the steek. If steeks are needed on slippery fabrics, such as cotton or rayon, add even more stitches to the steek and sew an extra row of reinforcing machine stitches. Before the advent of sewing machines, steeks were sometimes reinforced with back-stitching sewn by hand before they were cut. In other cases, the cut edges were left to felt together, which they would do after a few washes and wearings. Sometimes, the cut ends were hemmed down with herringbone, overcast, or whip stitches on the inside of the garment. Today, most knitters run one or two lines of machine stitching in the steek margin to ensure the yarn doesn’t unravel. Some knitters prefer to knit a facing to cover the steek and prevent the cut ends from poking the wearer. This gives a very neat finish to a garment. The next time the opportunity arises, make a steek, take a deep breath, and cut. Further Reading: The Complete Book of Traditional Knitting, Rae Compton, B.T.Batsford Limited, 1983 Encyclopedia of Knitting Techniques, Debby Robinson, Swallow Publishing Limited, 1987 Knitting Workshop, Elizabeth Zimmermann, Schoolhouse Press, 1981 Resources: A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch, Charles Mackay, Allan Ramsay, G. May, 1888