My first adventure in "sweater surgery," as I like to call it, was with this sweater. I spent lots of time on it, and after steeking, found it was just too tight in the shoulders and sleeves. I was incredibly disappointed, and found myself at a standstill. I showed it to an experienced Fair Isle knitter, who gave me permission to chop it up and do whatever I wanted. She said, "Who says the sleeves have to match the body? Why NOT take it in a wild and crazy direction?" These are words I've lived by (at least in my sweater knitting) ever since. 

​With my most recent sweater, I had no way to truly check the fit until I'd steeked the armhole openings. I also was having so much fun knitting that I wanted to work "just one more repeat" when I should have stopped. 

The result was a sweater that had something goofy going on at the shoulders, and was way too long (but not long enough for a sweater dress!).

It can be really frustrating to work so hard and have and end result that you're just not happy with. Luckily, knitting offers endless possibilities for repair and renovation.

The first thing I did was work on the shoulders. I'd worked short rows for shoulder shaping, and maybe did a little too much shaping. I clipped one stitch, unraveled about four rows total, then grafted everything back together. 

Next, I clipped a single stitch where I wanted to shorten the sweater, then unpicked that row, placing the live stitches on a circular needle about 3 sizes smaller than what I used to knit the sweater. Since I wasn't going to knit from that, needle, it didn't affect gauge, and it was much easier to grab the stitches with the smaller needle.

I could have knit new ribbing, but instead decided to graft the old ribbing back on, so that involved cutting off the extra and picking up the live stitches for the ribbing. Then a week's worth of grafting! 

When it comes to seaming knits, mattress stitch is my favorite technique. In this video, I seam the sleeves into the armholes of my scrappy stranded colorwork sweater.

​But...I didn't stop there. I made a bunch of swatches to demonstrate different scenarios you might face in using mattress stitch. 

Note that these swatches are at a looser gauge than I'd normally knit. The goal was for the camera to be able to pick up the spaces between stitches and for you to be able to see exactly what I'm doing. 

First up - the basics. When everything lines up, and you're just sewing two pieces together. 

The biggest thing to remember when working mattress stitch is that you're working with the right side of the garment facing you. The seam will curl to the inside to give the garment structure. This is a little different than most sewing, which is done with the "wrong" or inside of the garment facing you. 

Next - seaming a cast-on or bound-off edge to a vertical edge (selvedge) of knitting.

Followed by seaming cast-on to cast-on edges, or bound-off to bound-off, or cast-on to bound-off.

What happens when things don't line up perfectly? That's the topic of the next video. 

And lastly, what happens when you're working at an angle because of shaping in the garment? This one does require a little bit of advance planning, but by now you should be an expert in mattress stitch!

Another critical finishing detail is picking up stitches for the neckline. Because knit stitches aren't square, you can't pick up stitches in a 1:1 ratio - doing that risks a baggy neckline!

To get the stitches to lay flat, I needed to use multiple ratios depending on where I was picking up - a horizontal edge, a vertical edge, and a curved edge. I walk you through all the ratios in the video.

Continuing on my mission to take the "EEK" out of steeks, today we're talking about how to secure steeks.

Technically, if you're using a sticky wool, like Shetland, you don't need to secure a steek before cutting.

But that gives a lot of people the EEKs - so here are two ways to give yourself a little extra peace of mind before cutting your steeks. 

Once you've cut your steeks, you'll just proceed with your pattern. For me, this included a fit check, followed by sewing the sleeves into the armholes. 

After all the work of blending fiber, spinning yarn, and knitting a sweater...I decided to cut it apart! 

As a young knitter, I felt like cutting knits was about the worst thing you can do. After all, it's a decision you can't really reverse, and one of the things I like about knitting is the ability to unravel and re-knit to fix mistakes. 

But, that was before I understood the concept of steeks. Once I learned how they work, I started using them for almost everything!

The word “steek” comes from Middle English “steken,” meaning to shut, close, or fasten. But in knitting, it means the opposite, to cut open.

​A steek is a column of extra stitches connecting two pieces of knitted fabric, allowing the knitter to work more quickly in the round. The center steek stitch will later be cut. 

Most people get nervous about their knitting unraveling when they cut a steek. However, if you cut along a column of vertical stitches, you'll find that the knitting really doesn't want to unravel in that direction! 

Traditionally, steeks are used in stranded colorwork garments made with non-superwash wools - wools that will felt with wear. Over time, the cut edge felts together and is virtually indestructible. 

However, you can use this in other ways - like I did with this sweater.

Use a steek when you want to knit in the round, but are working in a pattern that needs to have openings or separate pieces. This includes:

• Cardigans​
• Sleeve openings
• Neck openings
• Blankets
• Scarves
• Stranded colorwork

To set up a steek, you'll add an odd number of stitches in the location you'll cut. Seven stitches seems to be the ideal number. These extra stitches won't add to the finished size of your garment - they'll get folded under during finishing.

Most steeks are done in stranded colorwork, and the steek stiches alternate in some way. I prefer a column of stitches, as shown below, but some knitters like to do a checkerboard pattern. 

If I'm not working in stranded colorwork, I'll purl the stitch that needs to be cut so that it's easy to see.

1. Don’t reinforce - just take a deep breath and cut! This is best for 100% non-superwash wool, and areas that will not see much stress.
2. Crocheted reinforcement - use single crochet to join half of columns 2 & 3, and half of columns 5 & 6. This is best for non-superwash wools. The crochet reinforcement adds some strength, so it can be used in areas that see a little bit more wear and tear.
3. Machine reinforcement - being careful not to stretch your knitting, run several lines of machine stitches along either side of the stitch to be cut. A walking foot is very helpful here. This method is suitable for most yarns, including non-wool yarns.

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You'll be cutting along the center stitch (stich #4 in the diagram above). Use a sharp pair of scissors, be sure to cut a straight line, and make sure you're cutting only one layer of fabric. That's all there is to it!
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Many people find they want to reinforce the cut edge in some way. Here are the ways I've used over the years. 

1. Don’t secure - only for 100% non-superwash wool. Over time, the cut edges will felt together. 
2. Whip-stitch the edge down to the garment - best for areas where you need stretch and don’t want to add bulk (like armholes).
3. Sew on a ribbon trim - best for shoulders and the inside of cardigan button bands. Adds stability, but also adds bulk. 
4. Steek sandwich - this is a knit-on facing. Stitches are picked up along the cut edge and knit outwards. A second set of stitches are picked up from the loops created from the first set of stitches, and knit outwards. The two sets of stitches are then joined together. This creates a thick facing, best for cardigan neck bands and blanket edges.