Day 198 and Better Beginner

I do enjoy teaching someone a new craft technique. Very occasionally, a friend will ask me for help and I can always tell when they are looking for some immediate satisfaction. Now as much as I appreciate the good old standby of the garter stitch scarf, I'm always a little bit bothered that it can look so very unprofessional on the edges for a beginner with no experience in tensioning the yarn.

This scarf is the solution to that problem. The edges will look much more professional when there are incorporated i-cords on each edge. They're made as you knit so there won't even be any extra ends to weave in. This is a technique that's been around forever, but here's the basic recipe:

Any yarn you like.
Any needle that gives the type of fabric you like.
Tapestry needle.

Cast on any number of stitches but no less than 10.
Every Row: Knit across to the last 4 stitches. Bring the yarn forward between the needles. Slip the remaining stitches to the right needle. Turn the work.

Because the stitches at each end are worked out of order by way of slipping the stitches and the working yarn coming from four stitches in instead of the end of the row, any uneven stitches can easily be massaged away in the final project.

The scarf you see pictured used Caron One Pound worsted acrylic and size 15 needles over 12 stitches.