If you’ve spent a lot of time and effort working on a blanket, you should definitely consider adding edging to your crochet. If you aren’t sure how to do that, don’t worry, that’s why we’re here!
Adding a border to your blanket is an important finishing touch that helps to clean up the edges of your work and hides small imperfections. Crocheting edging on your blanket gives it a polished, finished look.
The kind of edging you choose to use can also affect the look of the entire project. Edging can elevate a design and make your nice work even more breathtaking. You can add unique, elegant borders to simple blankets, while simple borders can be used to complement blankets with busier designs.
So how do you crochet edging on a blanket? Before adding a border in crochet, you should single crochet around the edges first. This single crochet row will help clean up the edges and set the stage for the actual border. Depending on the color you choose for this single crochet row, you may not be able to see it when you’ve finished the border, which is what you actually want. Once you added the single crochet row, you can now go back and add subsequent rows with your yarn color of choice to create the border.
We’ll go over how you can crochet edging on a blanket in this article. First, let’s see why you should add edging to your blanket.
5 Types of Crochet Edging
There are many different kinds of borders you could crochet on your blanket. Some popular ones are the crab stitch, shell stitch edging, block stitch edging, reverse shell edging, blanket edging, and picot edging (among others).
Let’s take a look at how you can add some of these borders to your blanket.
1. Crab Stitch
The crab stitch is a simple, yet sophisticated finish that’s easy to learn and implement on a blanket. The crab stitch, also known as the reverse single crochet stitch, makes for beautiful edging on blankets and other crochet pieces.
The crab stitch is basically the single crochet stitch done in reverse. If you’re right-handed, you simply work single crochet stitches from left to right, instead of from right to left as you normally would in regular crochet. Crab stitch edgings begin with a foundation single crochet row.
To implement a crab stitch, work the foundation row of single stitches. Next, start the first crab stitch by chaining one and inserting the hook from the front to the back. Yarn over and draw up a loop. You should have two loops on your hook.
To complete the first crab stitch, yarn over your hook and draw it through the two loops. Follow the same pattern to add the next crab stitch. Continue working crab stitches in the foundation row of single crochet stitches until you get to the end of the row.
The crab stitch is easy to implement and looks great on a finished blanket.
2. Shell Stitch Edging
Another edging you can quickly and easily add to your blankets is the shell stitch edging. This stitch involves the use of double crochet stitches separated by slip stitches and chain spaces.
The shell stitch edging is very versatile and can be added to the bottom and top of blankets and scarves or as a single row on the bottom of a crochet shirt. You can also work the edging around the entire border of a crochet project.
To begin a shell stitch edging, slip stitch into the first stitch of the row.
Next, create a crochet shell by skipping the next two stitches and on the third stitch, do the following:
- Double crochet stitch
- Chain one
- Repeat the above steps thrice
- End with a double crochet stitch
You should have five double crochet stitches separated by a chain space on the third stitch.
Now, skip the next two stitches and slip stitch into the next third stitch. Repeat the above sequence to create another crochet shell. Continue crocheting these shells until you get to the end of the row and then, end with a slip stitch.
If you’re going all the way around a blanket, then you’ll need to crochet around the corners. Here’s how to do that. After ending with a slip stitch on the row you’ve been working on, chain one, and then slip stitch into the first stitch on the new axis.
Continue working the crochet shells until you get to the next corner.
3. Reverse Crochet Shell Border
The reverse crochet shell border looks really good, especially when used to finish baby blankets. It’s also quite easy to implement and involves the basic single crochet, double crochet, and slip stitches.
To start a reverse crochet shell border, attach your yarn using a slip stitch. Now, chain one and add a single crochet stitch in the first three stitches.
Now, chain three, flip your work to the other side, and add a slip stitch to the top of the first single crochet stitch you made. Doing this will create a chain-three space.
Flip the work back to the front and double crochet seven times into that chain-three space. Your first shell is complete. Follow the same pattern to create subsequent shells.
When you reach the end of the piece, slip stitch into the front of the first shell, and you’re done.
4. Pom Pom Stitch Edging
The Pom Pom stitch edging is another cool edging you might want to try out. It will certainly give your blanket a distinctive look if you’re willing to try it out. Let’s see how you can implement this edging on your blanket.
To start a pom-pom edging, join with a single crochet stitch and chain six. Add three double crochet stitches in the 3rd chain from your hook while holding back the last stitch of each double crochet stitch on your hook.
You should now have four stitches on your hook. Yarn over and pull through all the loops to make a cluster stitch.
Next, chain three and make another cluster stitch in the loop that closed the first one. Join with a slip stitch at the start of the first cluster. Chain three, and add a single crochet stitch.
Repeat the steps above until you line the entire edge of your blanket with little pom poms.
If you want to make your own pom poms, this is the best yarn to use.
5. Treble Scallop Edging
The treble scallop edging is pretty, elegant, and not very complicated. It’s starts with a foundation round where you repeat the following:
- Single crochet stitch
- Shain two
- Skip one stitch
When you get to the corners, you do one single crochet stitch, chain two, and another single crochet stitch. Once you have your foundation row ready, you can start crocheting your treble scallop edging.
First, skip one chain loop. Then, do a treble crochet stitch in the next chain loop and chain two. Next, add single crochet stitches in the top side bars of the treble crochet stitch you just completed to make a picot.
Now, make another treble crochet stitch, followed by a picot. Keep doing this until you have five picots. Add a final treble crochet to finish the scallop.
Then, skip one chain loop and add a single crochet stitch in the next one to anchor the scallop. You’ve now completed one scallop. Repeat the sequence to go round the edges of your blanket.
When you get to the corners, you might end up with extra chain loops at the end of the row you’ve been working on.
Now, you could prevent this from happening by ensuring that your foundation round has the exact amount of chain loops needed, but that’s probably too much work.
To deal with the extra chain loops, you can do a ‘floating picot’. To do this, anchor the last scallop with a single crochet stitch, chain 4, and then, single crochet in the third chain from your hook. Chain one, skip one chain loop, and add a single crochet stitch in the next one.
Now, work on the corners. Follow the same instructions as when creating a regular scallop, but work seven picots instead of five before adding the final treble crochet stitch. When you’re done, you should have a nice place edging that’ll be worth the effort you put into making it.
For a single-stitch method, check out this video by Blossom Crochet on YouTube.
Related Questions
Which Color Should You Use for the Edging?
Before beginning to crochet a border to finish your blanket, you’ll need to select a yarn color for the edging. Depending on the type of edging you’re crocheting, you may need to select multiple yarn colors.
Of course, the color you use is completely up to you. However, when working on the single crochet row, it’s best to go with an inconspicuous color.
If your blanket has one color, you could use that for the single crochet row and then use a different color to finish the border. If the blanket has multiple colors, pick one of the more subdued ones for the single crochet row.
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