STITCHES   •   TECHNIQUE   •   JOINING   •   MORE

Working a Granny Border


It's often tricky to get the finishing touch of a blanket right.  Borders can be fickle things!
Too many stitches and it will start to ruffle, too few and it will want to curl up.

This is a great tip for getting a nice even start on a border for a granny square blanket.  Working into granny squares is nice and easy, you can generally work all around the edge as if you are making just one more round into a big granny square.  Simple enough you would suppose.

The trick comes when you meet a point at which two space meet, where two granny squares are joined.  Is it best to make a cluster* into both spaces, just one, which one?

The best method I've found is to bridge the gap and work the spaces together!
I find these 'bridging clusters' set up the foundation of the border perfectly, with the right number of stitches to ensure a nice flat and even start. 

You can then carry on with the border, working more rounds of granny clusters to keep the same pattern going, or it also works as a great foundation for all sorts of other border designs.

Bridging Cluster: Here's how to do it:

Work granny clusters into each space up to the place where two squares meet.

*A 'cluster' is 3 treble stitches (US dc's) all worked into one space.
Begin by making one treble (US dc) into the last space of the first square.
Next work two stitches together.

Start the treble (US dc) in the usual way:  Yarn over, insert hook into the last space in the first square, yarn over and pull through, yarn over and pull through two loops on the hook.
Instead of completing that stitch, we start another one.

Yarn over, insert the hook into the first space of the second square, yarn over and pull through, yarn over and pull through two loops on the hook.
Now to work the two stitches together.

Yarn over once more and pull through all 3 loops on the hook.  This turns them into one stitch.
Finish with a regular treble (US dc) into the first space of the second square.
That leaves you with a 3 stitch cluster, just like all the others!

Then carry on working clusters, making a 'bridging cluster' wherever two squares meet.

I hope you'll find this little tip as useful next time you need to work a blanket border.

I've used it plenty of times over the years in my blankets, 
my favourite might just be the Dolly Mixtures blanket.