You don't know it yet, but if you just completed the project in the last step you've mastered another of the classic knitting patterns: the stockinette stitch.
It's often assumed that people know what stockinette stitch means, so patterns might not even explain it. But now you know that big, fancy word just means alternate knit rows and purl rows. Simple, right?
Stockinette makes a really nice, simple "fabric" that is great for sweaters, scarves and all sorts of every day things. There is just one problem with stockinette, as you can see in the picture: it curls.
There's no way around it, though some people say some fibers don't curl as much as others. I've never made a stockinette anything that didn't curl. This can be really cute on the hem and sleeves of sweaters, but it's slightly less cute on your scarf.
Some options for preventing or hiding the curl:
- Instead of starting stockinette straight away, make the first three or four rows and the last three or four rows ribbing (that's knit one, purl one, across the row).
- For the sides, slip the first stitch of each row (instead of knitting or purling, just slide the stitch from the left-hand needle to the right, from whichever direction you're going that row.
- Add tassels. Cut a bunch of two-foot-long sections of yarn, bunch about 10 of them together for each tassel, fold them in half, loop them through the edge of your scarf, and the run the ends of the yarn through the loop and pull tight. Repeat every few inches.
