I am knitting a scarf in stockinette stitch and the edges keep curling in! I have unravled it twice but obviously I’m doing something wrong because it keeps happening. Any advice would be so appreciated! thanks in advance
im afraid that happens. Stockinette stitch does curl in. At least it always does in my experience. you arnt doing anything wrong. Is it a pattern you are following or just knitting a scarf to try out the stitch?
I’m a beginner…trying to teach myself from a book so I’m just trying this stitch out. I’ve only knit scarves in garter and rib so I’m trying something new. Is there a way to flatten the edges after I’ve knit the whole thing?
P.S thanks for replying
No you cant flatten it after but try a garter stitch boarder as you knit it. It will stop it curling that way. But doing stockinette stitch alone it will curl. Good luck with it.
thanks! I guess i will go to youtube and find out how to do a garter stitch border
Youve done garter stitch simply knit on front and back the first maybe three stitches at either side and stockinette stitch in between its simply remembering which is the front of your work and which is the back which is simple enough two here i will give you a pattern you can follow:
Cast on 32 stitches
Row 1: Knit to end (front)
Row 2: Knit 3, purl 26, Knit 3 {back)
Copy these rows to the length you wish.
To do a garter border, you knit the first 4 or 5 rows, then knit 3 or 4 sts at the beginning and end of the purl rows. The knit rows are just knit all sts across. Here’s a Sticky Thread on curling stockinette that has some other tips.
awww…that makes so much sense! thanks guys, guess I will unravel AGAIN…hope third times the charm. Your responses were very helpful I really appreciate you taking the time to help out this newbie
Just as a warning. The garter stitch border is really only going to keep the edges from curling. The middle of your scarf is still gonna curl.
The reason this happens is because the knit side of a stockinette is actually shorter than the purl side of stockinette. So you end up with something that looks like this:
Purl Row __ __ __ __ __
Knit Row ,VVVVVVV,
So the top line is pushing outward while the bottom line is pulling inward. So not matter what you put on the outside of a series of those, it’s still going to curl. The garter stitch edge will lessen the curl, but its still gonna curl.
The good thing about this is that its really easy to avoid. Yout can actually do ribbing and get a really good look, but you don’t have to do an even 2x2 or 3x3 or 4x4 rib. You actually only need about one purl to every 4 or 5 knits. So you can do a k4,p1 rib and it should prevent it from curling.
Blocking stockinette doesn’t really work all that great either. The stitches will eventually go back to curling, especially if you wash it.
This is THE BEST solution I have found so far. I didn’t realize you could space the purl st so far apart and still have it work. Thank you so very much!!!
With stockinette stitch, you’ll have to either block or knit a garter or other patterned edge to stop the curl. There’s also a knit pattern on knitty that looks like a simple stitch like garter or stockinette that does NOT curl at all… http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEdf10/FEATdf10SIT.php Scroll down until you see the knit pattern and use that (under pattern notes, named texture pattern). It’s fairly simple, if you know both knit and purl stitch and you can either choose to change the color like it instructs or you can just do one color the entire way. There are options!