Slipped Stitch Edge

Questions lately have been about the slipped stitch edge. This technique gives a pretty finished look to the sides of your knitting. If you are making a scarf or afghan or other project where the edges of the knitting will show, the slipped edge is definitely worth considering, since it looks like a smooth braid.

Making a slipped edge is a simple as skipping the first peg on each row.

Let's say your knit piece is 10 stitches wide. You would cast on to 12 pegs, because the slipped stitch at each edge doesn't contribute to the width of your piece. For each row, you would skip the very first peg, then knit to the end of the row.

Cast on to pegs 1 - 12.
Row 1: Skip peg 12, knit pegs 11 - 1.
Row 2: Skip peg 1, knit pegs 2 - 12.
Repeat rows 1 - 2.

If you are alternating knit and purl stitches in any sort of pattern, even just a garter stitch pattern at the edges to prevent curling, you always want to knit the very last peg in every row. The knit edge loops make the braid along the side of your knitting.


The sample is knit as follows:
Cast on to pegs 1 - 12.
Row 1: Skip peg 12, knit pegs 11 - 1.
Row 2: Skip peg 1, purl pegs 2 - 3, knit pegs 4 - 9, purl pegs 10 - 11, knit peg 12.
Repeat rows 1 - 2.


A well written pattern will indicate if the edges are slipped or not, either by stating so in the notes, or in the instructions themselves, such as above (skipping the first peg of each row, knitting the last peg in each row). If the pattern doesn't have a slipped edge, you can always add one by casting on to two more pegs and skipping one peg at the beginning of each row.

The name for this technique comes from the similar technique when knitting with needles. The first stitch on the left needle is slipped onto the right needle without being knit or purled.