Steeking
Steeking is the technique of cutting into knitted fabric to create openings for sleeves or cardigan fronts, requiring careful securing of stitches first.
Explanation
Steeking is a traditional technique, often used in colorwork (like Norwegian cardigans/kofte), where you knit a complete tube and then cut it open to create openings for sleeves or the front opening of a cardigan. Before cutting, you must secure the stitches on each side of the steek, either by sewing with a sewing machine, crocheting an edge, or using self-felting wool. This allows you to knit the pattern in the round the entire way, which is much easier than knitting colorwork back and forth.
Also known as: Steek
Cutting knitted fabric
Steeking means knitting a garment as a closed tube and then cutting it open to create armholes or a cardigan front. Extra stitches are worked where the cut will fall, and they are reinforced before cutting.
The reinforcement is done with machine stitching, crochet or hand sewing along each side of the cut. Then you cut between the lines of stitching.
Why it is done
Colourwork is far easier worked in the round than flat, because you always face the right side and never have to strand on a purl row. Steeking lets you keep that advantage on garments that need an opening.
The technique belongs to the Nordic and Scottish cardigan traditions and depends on wool that felts slightly. In superwash and smooth fibers it is considerably riskier.
Whether your yarn can be steeked safely
Steeking means cutting knitted fabric, and whether that is a calm procedure or a disaster depends almost entirely on the yarn.
Traditional steeking relies on the fibre's willingness to felt into itself. Untreated, slightly rustic wool — Shetland is the classic — grips so well that the cut edge barely needs reinforcing. Superwash wool has had exactly that property removed, and a superwash steek will unravel if it is not thoroughly secured. Cotton, silk and other smooth non-wool fibres do not grip at all. For any of those, reinforce with a sewing machine or a crocheted steek before cutting, and even then treat it as the riskier option.
Common mistakes
- Steeking in superwash or smooth yarn, which does not grip when cut.
- Reinforcing only one side of the cut.
Keywords
- steeking
- cutting knitting
- steek
- cutting a steek
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to cut knitting?
In untreated wool, yes — the fibers cling together. Always reinforce with stitching or crochet on both sides of the cut first.
Can I steek superwash?
It is not advised. Superwash lacks the scales that make wool felt, and the stitches unravel far more readily.
Do I have to steek a colorwork cardigan?
No, but the alternative is working the front back and forth, which means purling every wrong-side row of the colorwork. That is slower, and most knitters find their tension differs noticeably between knit and purl rows in stranded work, so the fabric ends up less even. Steeking exists because knitting the whole thing in the round produces a better fabric.