How to knit so edges look like chain stitches

How-to Questions
1

I remember reading an article once about how you can knit or purl your edges so that the first stitch on both sides look nice and neat, like a chain stitch. I can’t find the article and have experimented several different ways but can’t seem to perfect this known knitting tip. Hope someone here can tell me…I thought I remembered the article to say that you can slip the first and last stitches but that doesn’t seem to work. If you know how to do this simple tip, please let me know. Thanks.

2

I slip the first stitch as if to purl on each row.

You can’t slip the first and last, because they have to be knit some time.

3

Does it make a difference if you slip as if to knit or slip as if to purl?

I never knew this trick when I first started knitting, but I recently heard about it - I tried it (I slipped as if to knit) and actually thought it made my edges look much worse… :frowning: Could it have been the way I slipped?

4

ditto

5

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=darkorchid]I make sure the last st of every row is knitted, regardless of what the pattern says. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#9932cc]Then slip the first st as if to purl, put the working yarn between the needles to the back of the work and start knitting if the first st is a knit st.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#9932cc]If the first stitch is a purl, slip the first st as to purl and continue purling.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]