Question About Edge Stitches

Hello,

I have a question about edge stitches: I have a knitting pattern for a children’s dress that calls for casting on 87 stitches, knitting an 8-stitch pattern repeat 10 times, and then knitting one more knit stitch. There’s no mention of edge stitches here. Should I cast on one edge stitch on each side, or should I knit as described?

Best regards, Angela Rodrigues

Hello angela-rodrigues1,
welcome to our forum.
Please don’t include email addresses in your posts, and don’t use them as the title or subject line either.
I’ve changed the subject line.
Good luck with your craft project.

Hi Angela, did I make a calculation error? Where do the 87 stitches come from?

  Because 10 repeats of an 8-stitch pattern should total 80 stitches + 1 stitch = 81 stitches

10 repeats of an 8-stitch pattern = 80 stitches + 2 edge stitches (1 at the beginning and 1 at the end) = 82 stitches

10 repeats of an 8-stitch pattern + 1 stitch (8+1=9) = 90 stitches

Hi Petra,

a typo has crept in here. So, to clarify:

Cast on 81 stitches: knit 1, then repeat the 8-stitch pattern 10 times *(yo, k2, slip 1-k2tog-psso, k2, yo, k1)*

Best regards, Angela

Hello Angela

Am I understanding this correctly—you really just want to know whether you should knit edge stitches or not?

I always knit edge stitches; it looks better and makes it easier to sew or crochet the piece together, especially with a lace pattern.

You’re not knitting the dress in the round, are you? In that case, you obviously don’t need edge stitches.

Have fun knitting!

Hello, if it says “k1, then work the pattern repeat 10 times

,” then your 1 stitch is a knit stitch, so there are no separate edge stitches specified.

The pattern starts with a yarn over, which is why there is that one stitch before the pattern repeat. The pattern repeat ends with 1 knit stitch.

I would knit the pattern without edge stitches, just as the pattern says, and not cast on 2 extra stitches. It starts with a knit stitch and ends with a knit stitch

. What Wollefaden says is correct. With edge stitches, I can also sew the pieces together much more neatly. 

Thanks for the reply,

That’s right—I just wanted to know if I should cast on additional edge stitches, since they don’t seem to be included in the pattern.

Best regards
Angela