This tutorial is about a simple yet effective method that I’ve learned from Friederike – a knitter from our virtual knitting community. She kindly shared with me a way that her mother used to make the edges of her projects neat and tidy.
I tested this technique and instantly fell in love with it. This type of selvedges forms a chain of twisted stitches at each side of the fabric. The chains are identical and the edges look very similar to the ones formed by the most common way to make selvedges in Russian knitting, but they seem to be even neater and don’t stretch as much.
I don’t know the formal name for this method, but because Friederike’s Mom comes from Silesia, I called this technique Silesian Selvedges.
Let’s see how we can make these lovely edges in three (very!) simple steps.
SETUP
If you decide to treat the edges of your project with Silesian selvedges, add two stitches to the total number of stitches you cast on – one stitch for each side edge of the fabric. Then work the steps explained below starting from the very first row.
STEP 1
Knit the first stitch through the back loop. To do that, insert the right needle from right to left into the first stitch on the left needle.
Wrap the tip of the right needle with the yarn, and pull the wrap through to form a new stitch.
It doesn’t matter whether you hold yarn in your left or in your right hand. This edging works well with any classic knitting style.
If you use this method when you work the Eastern (Russian) way, the chain of stitches at the edges of your project will be formed by regular, non-twisted, stitches. The edges will still look nice but they will be more elastic than the edges created by this technique paired with the classic Continental or English knitting.
STEP 2
Work in the pattern of your choice until you get to the last stitch of the row.
One of the best things about this technique is that it works with the majority of stitch patterns. Whenever you want to trim the sides of your project with a lovely slim edging, add Silesian selvedges no matter what stitch pattern you use as the main pattern of your knitting creation.
WATCH EVERY STEP IN THIS VIDEO TUTORIAL
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STEP 3
Bring the yarn to the front of the work and slip the last stitch of the row purlwise. That means that we should insert the right needle into the stitch from right to left, just as we did in step 1.
That’s how simple it is. Repeat these three steps in every row and you will see that each side edge of your project turns into a pretty chain making the piece look neat and well-finished.
If you add these selvedges to the edges that will be seamed later on, use the seaming technique explained in this tutorial for the best results.
SAVE IT FOR LATER
This and 44 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #5.
