I’ll be doing a few posts about knitted-on borders for shawls. This is the first part of that series.
I’m also working on a little tutorial on how you know if you’ll be joining the border on the RS or WS rows, whether you need a setup row, and if you should have RS or WS facing when you cast on the extra stitches to begin the border. In my examples below the chart points are clearly pointing to the left but sometimes you’ll see the charts with the points going the other way, as in the charts I’ve photographed out of a book. I’ve never seen this explained anywhere, so I’m working up some information for you.
Don’t try to knit from these charts. I haven’t tested them. They’re just to show the basic concepts of how these borders work.
Three Types of Borders
Scalloped borders can be created using increases and decreases, or increases and bind-off sections. These can be knitted separately and sewn onto a garment, or they can be used as a bind-off technique. They are knitted sideways as compared to the main knitted piece.
Border formed by increases and decreases.
The bottom section has 1 extra yarn over every other row; the top section has 1 extra decrease every other row.
Here is a chart from a book on my coffee table that shows how these can “point” either way.
Border formed by increases and bind-off sections.
Bottom section has extra yarn overs on RS rows. The increased sts are bound off on row 17.
Here’s a border with binding off to create a sawtooth edge that “points” the other way.
Bias can be used to make scalloped edges.
Top and bottom edges scallop when decreases are stacked vertically. These are two variations on the same theme. If you pick up stitches and work outward to create a border, when you bind off the edge will form points as shown in these examples.
For this type of border, there is no special border shaping, as you can see by the chart being a plain rectangle with no missing stitches. The bias, which is caused by the stacking of the yarn overs and decreases in columns, makes the edge of the knitting to scallop and you can block the scallops to sharp points.
Experience level – advanced beginner
After I finished my Arctic Lace Knitting Book, I finally allowed myself to explore the world of lace knitting and discovered that is is much more varied and elaborate than I could have imagined. Around the world and over time, knitters in different countries and regions have developed unique styles of lace knitting that range from easy-intermediate (like the knitting of the Oomingmak knitters) to advanced-insanely- difficult (like some of the Victorian patterns designed by English knitters). Other lace styles are used in Estonia, Russia, South America, Lithuania, Germany and Austria, and New Zealand. I’m sure there are even more, but these are the styles I’ve explored so far. – Donna Druchunas –
Experience: All skill levels, basic knitting skills required.
Have you ever wondered why some people can read charts easily and others find them incomprehensible? The truth is, charts are written in a code that can be deciphered by knitters who learn the symbols on the page and in their knitting. Charts do not use arbitrary symbols, but each symbol includes the instructions on how to make the indicated stitch! In this class, you will learn the secrets of interpreting chart symbols for texture and cable stitches.
The images are not showing up on the article.
That’s weird, I see them on my browser. I’ll have to look at the post and figure out what’s wrong. Thanks for letting me know.
The images are not showing up on the article.
That’s weird, I see them on my browser. I’ll have to look at the post and figure out what’s wrong. Thanks for letting me know.
Thanks for taking the time to write the tutorial. The images are showing up for me. I’m using a safari browser on my iPad.
Thanks for taking the time to write the tutorial. The images are showing up for me. I’m using a safari browser on my iPad.