Hi all!
I am making a scarf, and am thinking of taking a nice long circular, and picking up the stitches along both sides and knitting a nice seed stitch border.
Problem is, this will be the first time doing so and I’m concerned about picking up too few or too many stitches and have the whole thing pucker (or bloat out).
Are there any general rules on where to insert the needle to pick up the stitches (basically, match the gauge of the scarf)?
Since its on a circular and its a very long scarf, the stitches are all going to scrunch on the needle so its going to be hard to see as I go if I am succesful.
The scarf is mainly knit in alternating double garter/stockinette rows. that is
row 1: knit
row 2: knit
row 3: knit
row 4: purl
Any advice on this?
Usually when you pick up stitches to make a border going in the opposite direction, you pick up 3 out of 4 stitches so you don’t have too many, to account for the difference in the dimensions of the stitches themselves.
Do a test on a foot or so length of the edge. This prevents picking up all the way around and realizing too few/many sts. Doing a short stretch should give you sense for how many sts per/in and where it’s best to pick up (so you can build up rhythm). You can test the look at the same time to see if something about it you don’t like. My borders are often combo of knit and crochet and I’ll play with them both til I achieve the right balance.
cam
Ok, I just started doing the border but with a lot of uncertainy. So much the I’ve been paralyzed with indecision and the project is on hold…
When picking up the stitches the first time, I cannot tell if I’ve picked up too few or too many. I think you have to knit a couple of rows before you can tell if the number of stitches affects the rest of the garments.
I think I am picking up 4 stitches every 6 rows. If I alter that ratio it looks like the stitches are picked up unevenly - some stitches are closer, some are further apart.
Then the next problem is exacty where I am picking up. A detail I left out is that every switch from garter to stockinette, I am changing colors by carrying up yarn (think an illusion, or shadow knit project).
So I picked up in between the yarn used for carrying up during a color change, but this looked like it was leaving a gap effect, due to these areas being looser than normal stitches.
Then I tried to pick up inside the first stitch, but because I have this extra carry up yarn, this leaves a very noticeable inside edge after the border will be done. I have a feeling this could be uncomfortable when wearing the scarf.
I’m not sure exactly how to proceed, or should I abandon my border efforts…