When I made my Summer Garden granny square throw (pictured above), I felt it needed a good edging to finish it off. Something that would pull the whole thing together and give it that final flourish. And as is quite often the case, I ended up designing my own edging after being unable to find anything suitable in books or on the internet.
This edging is made in three rounds :: two rounds of chain loops, followed by a final round of shell/scallops, and is very easily worked around any size of granny square.
I'm writing the pattern in UK terms, the stitches as follows ::
sl st :: insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch, then straight through the loop on your hook.
dc:: insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (two loops on hook), yarn over and pull through both loops on hook.
htr :: yarn over, insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (three loops on hook), yarn over and pull through all three loops on hook.
tr :: yarn over, insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (three loops on hook), yarn over and pull through two loops on hook (two loops left on hook), yarn over and pull through remaining two loops.
For US peeps:
UK dc = US sc
UK htr = US hdc
UK tr = US dc
To begin :: Tie in your edging yarn colour by making a strong knot close to the work, and leaving long enough ends to darn in later.
Insert the hook through the corner chain-2 space of the previous round, yarn over and pull a loop through to the front to begin.
ROUND 1 :: making Chain Loops.
You will be working out of the chain-1 spaces between the treble clusters of the previous row.
Chain 5 (as above)
Slip stitch into next ch-1 space (hook through space, yarn over, pull yarn back through space then straight through the loop on your hook)
This slip stitch "anchors" your first chain loop (as above)
*Chain 5, then sl st into the next space*
Repeat between **.....
...anchoring your chain-5 loops into each space as you work your way along.
When you reach your first corner, simply make a sl st into the chain-2 corner space of previous round, chain 5 again, then rotate your work and move around the corner to sl st in the first available space of the next side (as above).
The chain loops will easily and simply turn the corner.
At the end of the final side, make your last chain-5, then sl st into the first chain of your initial chain-5 loop to finish (as above).
Fasten off the yarn at this point, and darn all dangly tail ends in through the stitches at the back of the work to avoid the them getting in the way as you start the next round.
ROUND 2 :: making Chain Loops (again!)
For this round you will be working under the chain loops of the previous round.
Start by making a slip knot on your hook (same colour yarn as for the first round, as above).
Making sure the long end/ball of yarn is to your left, and the short tail end is to your right, you'll need to make a slip stitch underneath the first chain-5 loop of the previous round, as follows :: put the hook under the chain loop, yarn over, pull the yarn back through underneath the chain loop to the front, then straight through the slip-knot-loop already on your hook.
This should anchor you in the centre of the chain-5 loop ready to begin the second round (see picture below)
Chain 5 (see above)
Slip stitch under the centre of the next chain loop to anchor.
*Chain 5, sl st under the centre of the next chain loop*
Repeat between **, working your way along as before.
As in the first round, you will be able to continue the chain-5's around the corners (as above)...
....until you get back to where you started.
After your last chain 5, sl st into the first chain of this round to join.
BUT DO NOT FASTEN OFF THIS TIME!!!
ROUND 3 :: the SCALLOPS
You will be working under the chain-5 loops of the previous round.
Make a slip stitch under the chain-5 loop immediately to the left.
Then work the following, all under the same chain-5 loop :: dc, htr, tr, htr, dc, sl st.
This makes your first scallop.
Now move along and work the following stitches under the next chain-5 loop ::
** sl st, dc, htr, tr, htr, dc, sl st **
You have now made your second scallop (as above)
Continue working your way round in this way, repeating the scallop pattern between **, making sure to check that you begin and end each scallop with a sl st (I found it was quite easy to forget this first slip stitch!!)
Again, the corners should sort themselves out, the scallops will simply follow the chain loops of the previous round.
When you've completed the last scallop and are back to the beginning, make one final slip stitch into the first sl st of the round to join the first and last scallops.
Fasten off and darn in the ends at the back.
And that's it!
Its quite a yarn guzzler, so if you're edging a big blanket then you will probably need several balls/skeins of yarn in the edging colour.
As always, let me know if you have any problems/questions with this pattern by leaving a comment and I'll do my best to help....Happy Hooking :o)
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