The Knitting Fiend

I found directions this unnamed edging at www.knitting-and.com; they said the edging directions came from an unknown Australian source from the 40’s and were in the public domain. I’ve decided to call it “Lace Flounce Edging”; if you know the real name, let me know!

When I followed the directions posted, there appeared to have a few errors, which I corrected. I also reorganized the directions to help the knitter incorporate this edging into their own design.

I fiddled with this at knit-club. We all agreed that, while pretty, we prefer the sharks tooth edging for the shawl I plan. I think this edging might be nice on the hem of sleeves; the bottom would flare making a tulip effect.

Here’s how I knit the portion below the blue line:

• Cast on 33 sts and knit one row.
• Row 1: k5, place marker, p16, (yo, k2tog) to last 2 sts, yo, k2. (– 34 stitches.)
• Row 2: k29, turn. (You will reach the marker and turn.)
• Row 3: p17, (yo, k2tog) to last 2 sts, yo, k2. (– 35 stitches.)
• Row 4: k to marker, slip marker, k5.
• Row 5: k5, slip marker, k16, (yo, k2tog) to last 2 sts, yo, k2 (– 36 stitches.)
• Row 6: k13, p18, turn. (You will reach the marker and turn.)
• Row 7: k1, (yo, k2tog) to last 2 sts, yo, k2. (– 37 stitches.)
• Row 8: k18, p14, slip marker, k5.
• Row 9: k5, slip marker, knit to end of row.
• Row 10: Cast off 4, k to marker, slip marker, k5.(– 33 stitches.)
• Repeat rows 1-10.

Notice that rows 2 and 6 are “short”; when you turn, the five stitches on the other side of the marker remain on the left needle. Turning like this results in a slightly ruffled flounce attached to a 5 stitch wide garter stitch strip.

If you want to attach to the edge of a piece you’ve already knit, as I did for the portion above the blue line, and which I don’t recommend, do the following:

• Cast on only 29 stitches.
• On the first knit row, work up to the final stitch. Then work a “k2tog”, working the last edging stitch and the first shawl stitch.
• On all odd rows except 3 and 7 change k5 to slip 1. (You will be slipping that k2tog.
• On all even rows except 2 and 6, replace “k5″ with “k2tog” ; the k2tog will involve the last edging stitch and a stitch from the shawl edge.

Why don’t I recommend attaching afterwards? Well, I think the small series of holes at the attachment point class with the rest of the edging. In contrast, this series of holes looked nice when I attached the sharks tooth edging. So, I advise knitting attaching this some other way.

Still looking for more and better edgings. (And kinda having fun doin’ it!)

Today, I’ll give directions for the Shark’s Tooth Edging. I attached this garter stitch swatch but it can also be worked along with a main piece. I’ll describe both ways. Of course the edging can also be worked by itself and sewn on– but you don’t need me to explain how to do that, right?

Shark’s Tooth Edging: Basic Directions.

Prepare to work edging.

• Cast on 8 stitches. (For some applications, you may wish to cast on in waste yarn and knit a work a pair of rows in stockinette ending with a purl row. Afterwards attach yarn and continue. )
• Prep row: Knit one until 1 stitch remains. Place a marker. k1. (Note: if you are working the a shawl, the shawl stitches would sit here.)

The edging: The first slipped stitch of row 1 is final stitches of row 1 are on the “edge”.

• Row 1: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k2. (– 9 stitches.)
• Row 2: K2, yo, k2 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 10 stitches.)
• Row 3: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k4. (– 11 stitches.)
• Row 4: K2, yo, k4 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 12 stitches.)
• Row 5: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k6. (– 13 stitches.)
• Row 6: K2, yo, k6 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 14 stitches.)
• Row 7: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k8. (– 15 stitches.)
• Row 8: K2, yo, k8 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 16 stitches.)
• Row 9: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k10. (– 17 stitches.)
• Row 10: K2, yo, k10 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 18 stitches.)
• Row 11: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k10. (– 19 stitches.)
• Row 12: Bind off 11 stitches , k2 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 8 stitches.)

If you wish to knit this as you work a full shawl, cast on enough stitches for the main part of your shawl, then cast on 8 additional stitches. Follow the directions for the “prep row”– 8 stitches will be knit. Then work the directions for the main part of the shawl pattern over the shawl stitches.

Turn for the next row, follow the next row of directions for the shawl shawl; when you reach the final 8 stitches follow directions for “row 1″ of the edging. After that, just remember: the stitches on one side of the marker are edging stitches; those on the other are shawl stitches.

Here’s a tip: If you have trouble keeping track of the edging row after knitting two long shawl rows, use a post it note to mark the row you are working. (Or, read the re-organized directions below. They will help you “read” the knitting, which helps prevent losing track of your row.¹)

Ok, what if you wish to attach this to a shawl you have already knit. First: plan ahead. When knitting the shawl, be sure to slip the first stitch on the edge of the shawl purl-wise; this create a chain selvedge with 1 stitch every row.

After finishing the main part of the shawl, cast on the 8 stitches using some method that compliment the cast on method for your shawl. When you each the final stitch on the preparation row, place marker. Then instead of working k1, pick up a chain selvedge stitch from the shawl edge; this this together with the final stitch of the edging.

Turn to work row 2. Slip that first stitch — you will be slipping the stitch you created when you worked the k2tog.

Afterwards, replace every k1 with a k2tog involving one stitch from the shawl edge and one from the edging.

That’s pretty much how to work the edging. Some day I will try working the edging in a different color from the shawl. That would look cool!

Bye for now.

• Row 1: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k2. (– 9 stitches.)
• Row 3: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k4. (– 11 stitches.)
• Row 5: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k6. (– 13 stitches.)
• Row 7: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k8. (– 15 stitches.)
• Row 9: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k10. (– 17 stitches.)
• Row 11: Slip 1, slip marker, k1, (yo, k2tog) twice, yo, k12. (– 19 stitches.)
• Row 2: K2, yo, k2 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 10 stitches.)
• Row 4: K2, yo, k4 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 12 stitches.)
• Row 6: K2, yo, k6 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 14 stitches.)
• Row 8: K2, yo, k8 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 16 stitches.)
• Row 10: K2, yo, k10 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 18 stitches.)
• Row 12: Bind off 11 stitches , k2 (yo, k2tog) twice, slip marker, k1 (– 8 stitches.)

Notice you are the unbalanced “yo” at the end of odd stitches and the beginning of even stitches constantly widens the tooth.

The first 7 stitches of all even rows are identical.

Eventually you bind these off. You could make the edging deeper by extending this pattern.

I tend to knit in binges, and I’m afraid Barbara launched me into a shawl binge. Since I compulsively create all my own patterns, this means I need to begin exploring nifty shawl techniques. Today, I experimented with a a “picot edge bind off”.

I read some instructions for this bind off and interpreted them a few ways. I could explain why I thought the directions I found ambiguous, but I’ll just explain the organization I found prettiest. If you know a different way to do this, let me know!

Anyway, here’s what I did:

Now, we’ll start the “repeating” part:

1. P2 tog. You now have a stitch on the right needle tip.
2. Insert right needle tip between the first two stitches on the left needle tip as if to purl (See below left.) Yarn over purl — stitch created. Put this stitch back on the left tip.
3. Repeat. You will be inserting the right tip to the left of the stitch you just created. Put the stitch you just created on the left tip. Below right, stitch 1 is the stitch that was on the left tip originally. Stitches 2 & 3 are the ones you just created.
4. Place stitch 4 on the left tip.
5. Now, p2 tog. Repeat 4 times (You’ll do this a total of 5 times.)
6. Repeat from step 1.

I think this is much prettier than the plain old bind off I did on Colocha’s version of Barbara. I’ll be working this for future incarnations of Barbara (and pretty much all future pie wedge shawls.)