i misunderstood why steeking is so stressful. i assumed it was cutting the individual stitches at the end (& hoping you're cutting the right ones) & i guess that's part of it, but the real stress comes in the crochet prep which needs to be done exactly right or you'll end up with a worthless mess.
basically, you're grabbing 1/2 of a knit stitch in 1 row & 1/2 of a knit stitch in the adjacent row & then you're crocheting them together. the crochet is done with contrasting yarn to help distinguish between where you came from & where you're going & you can't be wrong about which stitches you're picking up.
the problem is that it's easy to get confused when you're peering into the depths of jet black yarn. it's a dizzying exercise in claustrophobia, or it's maybe not that bad, but i wandered off into no man's land a few times & that was not a comforting thought.
so i threaded a lifeline up 1 of the rows to keep me from straying.
& came up with a plan b to machine stitch the edges of the facings if i screw up.
