Mason Dixon KAL

Lisa, in the MonthlyDishcloths group, came up with a way to use Elizabeth Zimmerman's applied I-cord edge to make the MD Ballband edges a little neater. She allowed me to pass this on to all of you. She deserves all the credit and all props, comments and questions should be directed to her at last-one at juno dot com. Thanks also to Emily for some of the wording of the instructions.

Ballband Tidy Edges Instructions

I cast on four extra stitches so that I can use two stitches each side for the Applied I-cord (not my own technique, it's EZ's, credit where credit is due). For my own dishcloths (Brick/Ballband/Textured-- all the same pattern) I cast on 39 and then the four extra. For every row, knit the first two stitches, then knit in pattern until the last two stitches. When you get to the last two stitches, bring your yarn to the Purl position (front) and slip those stitches as if to Purl. On all RS rows, twist the working yarn and the resting yarn to carry the color. Keep doing this all the way up the cloth and you will see that you will be encasing the edges as you go along. Remember to give the cord a little tug (down) as you begin each row and you will see it forms a little casing. In order to keep the I-cord edge tighter, on all WS rows, you could knit into the back of the first stitch. You could also knit into the back of the first two stitches instead of just the first one.

The instructions for the braided cast-on in the purple and green cloth can be found here.