Tutorial Tuesday: Adding a crochet border to your knits.

This week, we're still discussing crochet and knitting.

Stockinette stitch: you've gotta love it. It's perfect for those times when you want to zone out in front of the television with your knitting, or have a discussion at your LYS about what new yarns are coming in (sure to be exciting!) without paying too much attention to your knitting. But there are things about Stockinette that are kind of lame. Like the rolling.

Sometimes the rolled edge isn't so snazzy.

Sometimes, you want your knitted fabric to have a rolled edge. Others, you just want it to stay flat. Adding a crochet border keeps your Stockinette fabric flat, and makes for a lovely finished edge.

Your border doesn't have to be on a Stockinette piece, nor does it have to be single crochet, but for the sake of simplicity that's what's covered in this tutorial.

Step One: Make a slip knot and put it on the crochet hook. This is the same as step one of last week's tutorial. Make sure the hook you've selected is the right size for the yarn you're using!

I am using a G hook with Rowan Handknit Cotton.

Step Two: Insert the crochet hook into the "v" of the knit fabric. This is the same place you inserted your needle for picking up and knitting stitches.

The hook goes in the middle of the "v."

Step Three: Yarn over and pull the yarn through. This is not the same type of yarn over you're used to in knitting. All it means is put the yarn over the hook. (Pretty self explanatory.) Then use the hook to pull that yarn through the knit "v". You now have two loops on the crochet hook.

Yarn over . . .

. . . and pull it through, leaving two loops on the hook.

Step Four: Complete the single crochet. Yarn-over again, and pull the yarn through both loops on the hook. You have one loop left on your hook.

Another yarn over . . .

. . . and a completed single crochet.

Repeat steps two through four until you reach the corner or end of the row.

If you'd like, you can fasten off at the end of the row and be done with it. You fasten off crochet the same way you do the last bind-off stitch of knitting. This is what one row of single crochet looks like:

Note that the fabric isn't rolling!

If you would like to go around the corner or add another row of single crochet, continue!

Step Five: Make a chain stitch. When there's just one loop on the hook, yarn over and pull through.

Yarn over again & pull it through the single loop . . .

. . . voila - a chain stitch.

If you just turned the corner, repeat steps two through four.
If you would like to begin a second row of single crochet, proceed.

Step Six: Crochet into the previous row of single crochet.Rather than having a knit stitch to go into, you go into the "hole" of the single crochet.

See the little holes that the hook goes into?

Two rows of single crochet

You can add as many rows of single crochet as you like, or get fancy and look up some decorative crochet edgings, like shell stitch


Disclaimer: I am a knitter, not a crocheter. If I use any wrong terminology or there's something you'd like to add, please leave a comment.