Q&A for How to Stop the Edges from Curling when Knitting a Scarf

When doing a garter stitch, you will knit every row. When doing a stockinette stitch, you will alternate between knitting one row and purling one row.

Yes, and that will also stop it from curling.

Crochet a border on, or try blocking the finished piece. In the future, try to use a larger hook. Curling in crocheting is usually caused by using a too-small hook.

Try blocking your piece. There are two options: steam blocking and wet blocking. Look them up to see which one is right for your piece.

On the packaging of the yarn there should be a mark or side note that tells you if it is iron-able or not. If you have removed the packaging you can take it to a craft store and ask if it can be ironed.

When slipping, you are simply transferring a stitch from your left needle to the right without working it. You can slip purlwise (yarn in front) or knitwise (yarn in back). YouTube has many instructional videos if you're still having trouble.

Once you connect the sweater pieces together, they will hold still and not curl.

If the pattern calls for circular needles, you may just need to buy and use them. I could be wrong, but I've been knitting for years and I don't know of a way to use straight needles instead of circulars.

Seed stitch is the alternating of knit and purl stitches offset each row by one. It’s perfect for bordering items that would naturally curl.

If no change in your knitting technique helps you to prevent curling edges, your best bet is blocking. Blocking is when you wash your finished project by hand in cold water, then pin down the edges in the shape you want. The best way to prevent curled edges is to put the wet project wrong side up on a flat surface (like a towel) and to pin the edges down while the work is wet and slightly stretched.

If you have already taken your project off the needles, or are too far in to want to undo it, blocking is your best bet. Blocking means washing the project in cold water, then pinning it in a certain shape while it dries so that it will be more likely to keep its shape. This often helps flatten edges or make patterns more visible, and might help you. However, if you're willing to undo some work, I would recommend reknitting the brim, either using a slightly smaller needle size or simply becoming conscious of your looseness and trying to change your knitting technique to tighten it.

Try knitting a border onto the blanket. Choose a garter or seed stitch to help the blanket lay flat. You could also try adding a fabric backing to the wrong side of the blanket to weigh it down.

Changing your stitch will probably not do too much to stop the edges from curling, but it might help a little bit. If your pattern allows for you to change the stitch, you can definitely experiment with some techniques to flatten your knitting while it is in progress. However, the tips in this article can also help you if you're still having trouble keeping your edges flat.

Although redoing the scarf would be the best method to get rid of the curled edges, you could also try blocking the scarf once it's finished. Blocking is washing the finished project (by hand, in cold water) and then pinning down the edges while it dries. This often helps knitting projects to maintain their proper shape and can help flatten edges.

The best way to give a knit project its proper shape is to block it, which means to wash it by hand in cold water, carefully remove some of the extra moisture using a towel, and lay it down on a flat surface. Then, place pins along all the edges, making sure everything lines up. Let your project dry, preferably overnight, in this position, and that should definitely help flatten your edges.

Try blocking your scarves: wash them by hand in a bowl or bucket of cold water, and then press them gently with a towel to get out the extra moisture. Then, lay each scarf on a flat surface (a dry towel works great for this) and place pins along all the edges. Make sure the scarf is pinned in the shape you want it, and let it dry in this position (preferably overnight). When you remove the pins, the edges should be noticeably flattened.

Try doing ribbing on the ends. Each row is purl 2, knit 2 repeat (just make sure that you do the same number of purl and knit stitches each time. When knitting flat you will have to do the opposite of what you did in the Right Side when working on the Wrong Side, and vice versa.

Use ribbing, knit 2, purl 2 across the row, until the end. Since you are knitting in the round, you can just repeat instead of doing the opposite every row.

It depends on what you think "good" looks like. One row purl, one row knit, will make one side look all purls and one side all knits.

It does work. However, you have to do it with hot steam instead of just washing it.

There are a lot of things that could cause curling in a knit scarf, so there is no one answer to this question. However, there are a couple things you can do. First, check that you are using the correct size of needles, with the corresponding thickness of yarn. Then, make sure that your stitches are not too tight. If this does not work, you may want to start over, re-reading the directions.

You cast on another stitch at the beginning of a new row because that way, the scarf will not curl into itself due to lack of space for the stitches to spread out.