How to create a slipped stitch shawl edge

If you have knit the Fuss Free Festival Shawl you will have noticed that it has a slipped stitch edging which helps to give it it’s distinctive relaxed crescent shape. Whilst it is isn’t difficult to work a few people contacted me for help as they found it hard to visualise how the stitches should look.

So to help I thought I would just create this mini tutorial just to show how the stitches are slipped.

To start with, all slipped stitches in the pattern are slipped purlwise, by which I mean that you insert the right hand needle tip into the first stitch on the left hand needle as if you were going to purl it.

The instructions say to Sl 1 pwise wyif - ie to slip 1 stitch purlwise with the yarn in front. To do this you start with the yarn hanging down at the front of the work. Leaving the yarn where it is, insert the right hand needle tip purlwise into the first stitch on the left hand needle and slide it across to the right hand needle. You don’t knit it or do a yarn over - the stitch is simply slipped, unworked to the right hand needle.

Then, move the yarn between the two needle tips to the back of the work ready to work the next stitch.

The next stitch is an increase - where you knit into the front of the next stitch, pull the loop through on your right needle tip but don’t slip it off the left hand needle. Instead, insert the RH needle tip into the back of the same stitch. Pull the loop through onto the RH needle tip and then slide both stitches off the LH needle. This creates an increase.

The next stitch is slipped purlwise in the same way as the first. So bring your yarn between the needle tips to the front of the work and then slip the stitch purlwise.

I hope this helps you to visualise the beginning of the shawl. Once you get into your rhythm you will find it to be a relaxing and fun knit - I promise.

Tips for a straight-edged sock yarn blanket

Since sharing photos of my sock yarn blanket I had a few questions asking how I was constructing it. Some patterns have you create a baseline strip of squares to start with. This is a good way to do it but it does mean you have to decide on the width of your blanket right at the very start.

Some patterns also have the squares worked in such a way that the edges of the blanket aren't straight - leaving a zig zag appearance. This can look really lovely but it does leave you the dilemma of whether to leave the edge as it is or work a series of 'infill' shapes to straighten things out.

I decided to work my blanket outwards from a corner, turning the 1st square on the diagonal to pick up stitches along the top right side for square 2 and the top left side for square 3. By continuing in this way you end up with a lovely straight edged blanket and you can keep going until the blanket is as large as you like. Or by continuing to work on one side and not the other you can create more of a rectangle than a square.

However you work your blanket though one thing is for certain. It's nothing if not addictive.

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