Welcome to week 2 of the 2024 Geek-A-Long Prep! Next week we’ll be right back here with the first of 6 sweater clues and I’m starting to get very excited. But before you embark on the main quest, we need to get ourselves ready with a side quest and ritual casting to get everyone warmed up. I like to think of the swatch on this one as the “session zero” of the sweater. Last week we released the project sheet with functional swatch instructions, and this week we are going to embark on some big magic by practicing cutting a steek. The sweater is primarily worked in the round, and then cut up the center at the end to make a cardigan.

You don’t have to make a cardigan, but I really think you should at least try out steeking to see if it’s something you love. I used to dread it, and then I had the idea to use fusible interfacing and I’ve never looked back. It’s a complete game changer.

Drama-Free Steeking

STEP 1: GATHER YOUR SPELL COMPONENTS

You will need:

• Your blocked and dried swatch.
• Fusible interfacing tape (I prefer SoftStretch brand)
• Double fold 1/2 inch bias tape in a complementary color
• A reasonably sized crochet hook – don’t over think it; it should be about the same size as your larger knitting needles, but it does not need to be an exact match
• Waste yarn in a visibly different color than your knitting yarns; I used white for my swatch and tutorial
• Scissors and a tapestry needle
• Sewing thread and needle in a color that matches or compliments the bias tape
• An iron and ironing board (or other reasonable ironing surface of your choosing)

STEP 2: STITCH A GUIDELINE

First, cut a length of waste yarn and stitch a running line up the middle of the center steek stitch on your chart. You should be able to see your guide stitches on both the right and wrong side of the swatch. The guideline will be removed later, no need to secure the ends, but it will help you keep track of where you should be working.

STEP 3: CROCHET

Before you get to the really exciting part of this spell, you need to set yourself up for success by crocheting the 2 stitches on either side of the stitch column with your guideline. Here, you will be crocheting the right leg of the stitch closest to the center column to the left leg of the stitch directly to the right of it.

You have 5 steek stitches in this swatch so you’ll be crocheting the 1st and 2nd sts together and the 4th and 5th sts together. Stitch 3, the center column with the guideline is left untouched. The Instagram reel towards the top of the post includes a video of this technique.

STEP 4: A WIZARD DID IT

I would expect something this magical to cost more, but no one tell late stage capitalism I said so. Cut a length of the fusible interfacing that is the same length as your piece from top to bottom of the steek. Then cut that piece in 1/2 length-wise so you have 2 long, narrow pieces. Don’t worry about perfection here, this isn’t going to be at all visible on the finished object – just aim for cutting it generally in half up the center.

Cut 2 lengths of your bias tape the same length as the 2 lengths of interfacing. Set one piece of bias tape and one piece of interfacing aside, turn your swatch inside out, and fire up your iron. Set the iron to medium hot, or if your iron has a specific wool setting, use that. We’re only going to have it on our piece briefly, but you don’t want so hot the piece get’s scorched.

Lay one piece of interfacing on the fabric so that it is near, but not touching the guideline. Lay on piece of bias tape on top of that so that it is face down against the wrong side of the knitting and one side of it is unfolded lining up the edge of the tape with the interfacing. Gently place the hot iron on the bias tape and press down lightly but don’t rub it up and down like you are ironing a shirt. Press down lightly, then lift and press down on a new spot until you have placed the iron gently on each area of the bias tape that was on top of the interfacing. It doesn’t take much to make the interfacing fuse. You can always iron more so go light and then give the bias tape a little tug. If it’s not attached to the fabric, iron a little more. If it is attached, you are good to go.

Repeat on the other side of the guideline so that both pieces of bias tape are fused to the swatch with the guideline visible between them.

If you’ve ever tried to steek before without the glorious wild-magic that is fusible interfacing, you know the stress and drama of having your stitches pull out and come loose or fray, or just dissolve into a puddle of regrets if you dared use anything but 100% non-superwash wool. Those days are behind you. The stitches beneath your interfacing are fused to the bias tape. They aren’t going anywhere and you can cut with reckless abandon.

STEP 5: CUT THAT SWATCH LIKE IT INSULTED YOUR HONOR

Turn the swatch right side out, and pull out the guideline. Grab a good sharp pair of scissors and cut up the center of the center stitch, right where the guideline had been.

STEP 6: SECURE THE BIAS TAPE

With the right side of the swatch facing you, fold the bias tape over the edge and use your sewing needle and thread to sew it into place covering the crochets. Here, you are sewing through both sides of the tape. I’m a terrible seamstress and it fully doesn’t matter. Just sew it on there, the bias tape will be on the wrong side of the finished piece.

STEP 7: EDGING

The last step is to pick up stitches along the edge of the bias tape and work a button band or edging band. Buttons are optional, on both the swatch and the sweater, but I had some cute pirate buttons sitting around that I decided to use for mine. Follow the instructions in the updated project sheet download to work the edging. When you finish each side, use your sewing thread and needle to sew the top and bottom of the bias tape to the garter row hems of the swatch. You don’t need to sew the long edge of the tape, just put a few stitches in the short top and bottom edges to keep it neatly against the back of your fabric. Picking up the stitches along the edge on the right side will cause it to naturally fold in towards the wrong side of the fabric, so you are just adding a few stitches to keep it where it already wants to be.

And that’s it! Your steeked edge will be able to withstand any amount of washing, wearing, and generally manhandling that you throw at it. the bias tape gives the whole thing a wonderfully clean edge and I am never going back to the chaotic gamble of traditional steeking methods. I hate working stranded colorwork flat, and thanks to steeks, I basically never have to.

View the Updated Natural 20 Sweater: Swatch Instructions/Project Sheet by clicking the download button below. When you download the pattern from our website instead of through Ravelry here, you will NOT receive automatic updates. You will have to come here and download the next clue every time. Please download it via Ravelry if you are able, so you have immediate access to the clues as they are released and any errata that may appear.

~Megan-Anne

At level 5, the spells and the steeks are real.

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