Some thoughts on attaching knitted lace edgings

When I began Esther Smith Bozak's Trinity Stitch Shawl pattern, I have to say I was a bit apprehensive - I knew I wanted the knit-on edging and not fringe (for me, for some reason, fringe quickly comes to resemble something Pigpen from Peanuts would wear). I had, previously, used the Tasha Tudor shawl by Nancy Bush (which is a great pattern, by the way, I've made two so far and plan to do a third). It has a knit-on edging, but it's fairly simple and it's written so clearly that you can "autopilot" it without really thinking about the process.

Which is good and bad. Good because you get good results if it's something you've never done before, but bad because you don't really figure out how it's working. It wasn't until I started playing with the current shawl and edging that I really grokked what you are doing and how and why it works.

Okay, so here are some pointers:

1. If you are choosing an edging from one of the pattern books, make a note of which side is the "flat" side. You may want to knit up a few repeats in scrap yarn to make sure. Make a mental note of what you do at the end of each row that ends on the "flat" edge of the edging. (It will often be k1 or something equally basic).

2. The edging does not have to be reversible (unless you want your shawl or scarf or whatever you are edging to be reversible), but be sure that the right side row will be up when the right side of the object you are attaching the edging to is up.

3. Ok, attaching the edging: you can either pick up all the edge stitches of the garment with a long long circular needle (this is what Nancy Bush recommends in her Tasha Tudor shawl) or you can pick up edge stitches one at a time as you knit (which is what I'm doing here). The benefit of picking up the edge stitches one by one is that it's less bulky, and you don't have the slow boring process of picking up 548 or however many edge stitches. The drawback is you have to be careful to pick up the "same" part of the edge each time and to be very careful with spacing.

3a. I am using short double-pointed needles (2 of a set of 5 sock needles) to knit the edging; it seems more manageable than straight needles (all the straights I own are 14" long) or a circular. The double pointed needles work well for me.

4. To knit the edging on, the "flat" side of the edging pattern should end with "k1" or some other recognizable (non-patterning) stitch (some might end with p1, or k 2 tog, or p 2 tog, whatever). On each row that "ends" on the "flat" edge of the edging, you will want to take one of the stitches from the edge of the body of the shawl (or scarf, or whatever) and knit it together with that last stitch or last decrease. For example, the pattern I am using (the one Ms. Bozak used in her pattern) is a repeat of rows 2-9. Rows 3, 5, 7, and 9 end at the "flat" edge of the edging, so the last stitch on each of those rows I knit together with a stitch from the body of the shawl. This then permanently (and without sewing or grafting!) attaches the edging.

5. If you are edging a triangular shawl such as the Trinity Stitch shawl, it works best (at least I think it does) to knit multiple "ends of rows" into the point stitch - this allows for the edging to "turn the corner" without pulling (I think I did a row 3, 5, 7, and 9 into the same or nearby stitches at the point of the shawl).

6. Block, block, block when you are done. Lace often looks like, forgive me, crap, while you're knitting it, but it evens out and gets pretty when you apply a bit of steam or warm water and stretch it out on pins.

Clear as mud? If you have any questions, or this doesn't make sense, please e-mail me at the link on the left (remove the part that says NOSPAM, that's a ruse to confound address-harvesting 'bots). I don't have comments on the site for various reasons, but I'm happy to "talk" to people in e-mail.

And as always, the standard disclaimer applies: This is my own experience and my own way of explaining it. Someone else might explain it in a way that's better for you. And similiar information is doubtless presented elsewhere (though it's not easy-easy to find; I haven't run across similar instructions to what I've written).

I've "turned the point" on the Trinity Stitch shawl edging so far. I'm still not sure what will happen at the end where it says to bind off in 3-stitch I-cord. But I think I'll figure that out when I come to it.

One of the many things I love about knitting is that there is so often the opportunity to learn new things. I was like a little kid who had just learned to tie her shoes when I figured out how to attach the edging and make it work - I wanted to show it to everyone I knew and say "I learned how to do this today!"