Fixing loose edges

#1

Hi! I am very, very new to knitting! So far I’ve made, besides a million mistakes, a neck warmer (or so that’s what the pattern is called - what is actually is I do not know!!). My enthusiam has pushed me to make a ribbed scarf, which is what I am working on now and having a ton fun and some success. My edges, however, are loose and don’t look very polished - any suggestions? Also, if there is a video on the KnittingHelp website that I can watch to show me a technique I would appreciate that info - as I have learned I am very much a visual learner. Thanks a bunch and I am happy to be knitting - even if it’s uneven and funny looking :aww:

Sunny

#2

There’s lots of reasons why edges get really loose, and no matter how I try, I can’t figure out how to stop mine from getting that way. If you look under the videos here (Demo of a small project, the first video), it gives some tips for the loose edges.

Now I have this book, that says the reason we get loose edges is because we’re knitting too tightly. It may not seem like it’s tight, but the tension loosens up as we go along the row and by the time we get to the end, wham we have a huge stitch left over. My book says in time you’ll learn how to not make this happen, but like I said, I’ve yet to figure it out. Personally, I just knit (or purl) the first stitch of the row, insert my needle into the next stitch and tighten the yarn to pull in the stitch. It seems to work for me, and my edges don’t look as henious as they used to.

#3

What works for me is to make the first st on the row, then give a gentle tug to it after which pulls up the slack in the one below it, the last st on the previous row. Then knit the next couple a little tight and go on. It’s helped a lot since I started doing that and works for stockinette or garter stitch.

#4

Thanks for the replies - good suggestions! I did check out the video clip on KnittingHelp.com, however I was wondering if there was something I could do to the edges once the piece was finished? For example, can I do some sort of crochet over the edge or something along those lines to clean it up a bit? I’m a good way along with the scarf so at this point I will need to fix it once the scarf is done. Thanks again.

Sunny:mrgreen:

#5

You certainly could crochet an edging around it when you’re finished. Try it out and see what you get.