Border Stitch Pattern Choices

Pattern Central
1

Hey everyone,

I’m knitting an open cardigan (no fastenings) which is in full stockinet stitch. The pattern says to do a garter stich boarder, which goes all the way around from one front, around the neckline and down the other side to the bottom. I’m wondering if I could do a different boarder for it instead of garter, maybe something like seed stich might be nice…

If I was to do a different boarder and it was a combination of a knit a purl, would it be safe to pick up every stich? I understand normally when you pick up stiches for a boarder certain stiches aren’t picked up to stop the fabric from puckering, but with a knit and purl pattern (like seed stich for example) would it still pucker if I picked up every stich?

I may end up doing the garter boarder, I’m just wondering if I could make the boarder more interesting with a different stich.

Novita Taiga Cardigan Pattern Link

2

Seed stitch will work nicely and help to lessen the curl of stockinette. It’s still a good idea to pick up 3sts for every 4 rows especially up those long edges.

Here’s a few edge stitch patterns for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFnFnzF_p_0

Nicky Epstein has several books on just edging, many of them in the public library. Some of the edges are going to be too fancy for this style sweater but they are all fun to browse through for ideas.

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3

Ahh thankyou so much! I adore linen stitch but I think it might be too stiff and it won’t behave well with the rest of the fabric if I go for that…I’ll check the book out!

4

Linen stitch is beautiful but it is very frim and stiff. Herringbone stitch pattern is similar in its tension. There are many other however. Would a crochet pattern work for you?

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5

Yeah that’s my worry with it, it might be too dense, however I am using a very fine pure silk yarn. Ribbing with a 3mm needle and stockinet with a 3.25mm. I am curious if the nature of silk yarn, combined with the larger needle size may work, making it a little more relaxed than dense. I do have enough yarn to test to see how dense it is.

It would work for sure, however I’ve never crocheted! Now could be the time to try…

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6

Working out a test swatch is never a bad idea. You’ll be able to test the needle size and firmness of the border fabric and also whether you’d like to work this border in the test stitch.