How to Get a Neater Edge on Your Knitting

If you’re looking to refine your knitting techniques in the new year, or you’re new to knitting and wondering why your edges look so weird, you might enjoy this deep dive into edge stitches, why they look that way and what to do about it.

The truth is that your edge stitches are pretty much always going to look a little different from the stitches on the inside of your knit fabric. That’s just because of the way knit fabric is structured — all the other stitches have support on both sides, which helps even out the tension, but edge stitches don’t have that.

Also it’s super easy to change your tension on that last (or first) stitch, to pull too tight because you think it will make them look more even, or to leave it loose because of the way you’re making the stitch.

Nimble Needles dives into all of this in detail, showing exactly how those edge stitches can get wonky and how they often don’t look perfect even when you’re trying really hard to make sure they have the same tension as the other stitches in the project.

So what do we do about it? You’ll have to visit the blog post for all the details, but the answer is working selvedge stitches or slipped stitches at the edges of the work. This takes some experimentation to determine the method that works for you (and honestly a lot of practice to remember to do it consistently, which is probably why I don’t do it, because I just don’t remember to) but it does make a nice edge if the more organic look isn’t something you like.

You can find all the details at Nimble Needles.

Do you work the edge stitches any special way when you knit something flat? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Nimble Needles]

Five Fun Ways to Finish Your Knit Edges

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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