An Education in Grafting Lace Edgings: Edging Pattern 2

There is a particular kind of satisfaction that comes from finishing a piece of knitting so seamlessly that the join itself disappears. No visible seam, no row of bumpy Kitchener stitches that catch the light in the wrong way, no tell-tale ridge that interrupts the flow of a delicate pattern. Grafting lace edgings is one of those techniques that rewards patience and practice with results that look almost magical — and Edging Pattern 2 is a wonderful entry point for knitters who want to deepen their understanding of this craft.

Whether you are new to lace knitting or a seasoned hand looking to refine your finishing skills, this guide will walk you through the principles and practice of grafting lace edgings with clarity and confidence. We will look at what grafting actually means in the context of lace, why Edging Pattern 2 presents its own particular challenges and pleasures, and how to set yourself up for success from the very first stitch.

What Grafting Means in Knitting — and Why It Matters for Lace

Grafting, in its most general sense, is the process of joining two pieces of live knitting together using a tapestry needle and yarn so that the result mimics a row of knitted stitches. Most knitters encounter it first as the Kitchener stitch, typically used to close the toe of a sock or join the shoulders of a seamless sweater. The goal is always the same: invisibility. You want the join to look as though the fabric simply grew that way, without interruption.

When you apply this logic to lace edgings, you are working with the same underlying principles, but the terrain becomes more complex. Lace is defined by its intentional holes — yarnovers that create eyelets, decreases that shape the negative space, and the interplay between these two elements to build a pattern. When you graft a lace edging, you are not simply joining a row of knit and purl stitches. You are continuing a pattern of openwork, and the join must honor those eyelets and decreases as much as it honors the solid fabric between them.

This is where many knitters hesitate. It feels like too many variables. But the truth is that once you understand the logic of grafting — that every stitch is either being entered from the front (as if to knit) or from the back (as if to purl), and that the needle always works through two stitches before a stitch is slipped off the needle — grafting lace becomes a matter of translating your pattern row into that language rather than an entirely new skill.

Getting to Know Edging Pattern 2

Lace edgings are applied to finished pieces of knitting to add decorative borders. They are worked perpendicular to the main fabric, with one selvedge picked up along the body of the work and the other edge forming the decorative outer border. When you work an edging in the round or when you want to join the beginning and end of a separately knitted edging, grafting is the most elegant solution.

Edging Pattern 2, as presented in the Interweave tradition of lace instruction, is a pattern that typically features a repeating motif built from yarnovers, knit two together (k2tog) decreases, and slip slip knit (ssk) decreases. The exact stitch count and repeat will vary depending on the specific pattern, but the structural logic holds: the edging has a right-side row and a wrong-side row, a rhythmic interplay of increases and decreases, and a decorative outer scallop or point that defines its visual character.

The challenge in grafting this edging at the end of your work is that you need to graft not just across a row of plain knit stitches but across a row that may include yarnovers, decreases, and the directional logic that keeps the lace pattern coherent. The starting stitches and the ending stitches must meet in a way that looks continuous.

Materials and Preparation

Before you sit down to graft, preparation makes a significant difference. You will need a tapestry needle with a blunt tip, a length of yarn approximately three to four times the width of the section you are grafting, and good light. Working at a table rather than in your lap gives you more control and lets you see what your needle is doing.

Block your edging — or at least wet-block the section near the join — before you attempt the grafting if at all possible. Blocking opens up the lace stitches and makes it much easier to see exactly what you are working with. When stitches are relaxed and spread to their natural positions, you can see the structure of the fabric clearly, and this helps you place your tapestry needle correctly.

Arrange your two sets of live stitches on two separate needles, held parallel to each other with the working yarn attached at the right end of the back needle. Make sure the right sides of both pieces face outward toward you, so that what you are essentially doing is closing a gap between two fabric edges.

It is worth counting your stitches before you begin. Both needles should have the same number of live stitches. If they do not, that is a sign that somewhere in your edging you made an error in the repeat — an extra yarnover not paired with a decrease, or vice versa. It is far better to discover and correct this before grafting than to press ahead and find the distortion in your finished fabric.

Understanding the Logic Row by Row

The most reliable way to graft a lace edging is to work from your pattern row. Take the right-side row of your edging pattern and translate each instruction into grafting language. This is easier than it sounds once you internalize the two basic rules:

The first rule: every stitch is worked twice by the tapestry needle before it leaves the needle. The first time the needle passes through a stitch, it sets up the stitch for release; the second time, it releases it and prepares the next stitch.

The second rule: on the front needle, the first pass is as if to purl, and the stitch stays on. The second pass is as if to knit, and the stitch comes off. On the back needle, the first pass is as if to knit, and the stitch stays on. The second pass is as if to purl, and the stitch comes off.

This is the classic setup for grafting knit stitches. When you encounter a yarnover in the lace pattern, you are adding a loop between stitches with your tapestry needle — drawing the yarn through the gap in a way that mimics how a knitted yarnover sits in the fabric. When you encounter a decrease (k2tog or ssk), you are working your tapestry needle through two stitches simultaneously before slipping them both off, creating the same leaning decrease that appears in the knitted rows on either side of the join.

The direction of the decrease matters. A k2tog decrease leans to the right, and when you graft it, you pass the needle through the two stitches in the same way a right-leaning decrease would sit in the fabric. An ssk decrease leans to the left, and the needle passes through in the corresponding way. Getting this right keeps the visual rhythm of your lace pattern flowing across the join.

Working Through Edging Pattern 2 Step by Step

Let us walk through a typical right-side row of a lace edging pattern and see how it translates into grafting.

Imagine your right-side row reads: k1, yarnover, k2tog, k3, ssk, yarnover, k1. This is a simple eight-stitch motif with a central knit section flanked by mirrored increases and decreases, giving the edging a slightly tapered or undulating quality. When you sit down to graft, you work through this sequence stitch by stitch using your tapestry needle.

The first knit stitch is grafted in the standard way: purl the front stitch and leave it on, knit the back stitch and leave it on, then knit the front stitch and drop it off, purl the back stitch and drop it off.

For the yarnover, you insert your tapestry needle between the first and second stitches on the front needle and draw a loop of yarn through that space, in the same direction that a yarnover loop would naturally sit in stockinette fabric. This loop will look, once the stitches settle, like a genuine yarnover increase.

For the k2tog, you insert your tapestry needle through two stitches simultaneously as if to knit, and work them together — dropping both off the needle at once when it is time for them to be released. The resulting stitch leans right, just as a knitted k2tog does.

For the ssk, you insert through two stitches as if to purl (entering the second stitch first, then the first), working them together and dropping them both when their turn comes. This creates the left-leaning decrease that mirrors your k2tog.

You continue in this way across the row, following your pattern instructions and translating each one into the needle-in-front, needle-in-back logic of grafting. It takes concentration, especially the first few times, but each stitch reveals itself as a logical extension of the pattern rather than a puzzle.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

The most common error in grafting lace is losing track of where you are in the pattern. Lace rows can be deceptively easy to read when you are knitting them in sequence, with each row building on the one before, but when you are grafting you are working across two rows at once and there is no preceding row to orient you. Mark your pattern row clearly, use a sticky note or pattern holder to keep your place, and check off each stitch as you work it.

A second common error is tension. Grafted stitches have a tendency to be either too tight or too loose, and in lace the problem is exaggerated because the yarnovers in particular need room to breathe. Work with a relaxed hand, and after every few stitches, use the tip of your tapestry needle to gently nudge the tension even before you move on. You can also adjust tension at the very end by working a tapestry needle back through the grafted row and easing stitches gently — but it is much easier to maintain consistent tension as you go.

A third issue is confusion about which needle is front and which is back. If you work a section in reverse — grafting from the back needle when you should be working the front, or vice versa — you will create stitches that are twisted or that lean in the wrong direction. Always pause before you begin, confirm that the needle holding the stitches closest to you is your front needle, and that the working yarn is attached to the right end of the back needle.

Finally, watch out for yarnovers that are twisted. A yarnover in lace is an open loop, and when you graft it, it must sit on the needle in the correct orientation (leading leg at the front) so that when you work through it with the tapestry needle, it forms an untwisted loop in the fabric. A twisted yarnover will close up and look like an extra knit stitch, destroying the eyelet.

Finishing and Blocking the Join

Once you have worked through all the stitches and both needles are empty, weave in the tail of your grafting yarn through the wrong side of the work. Do not pull it too tight, and try to follow the path of the existing yarn in the fabric rather than cutting across it. A few inches of woven-in tail is secure for lace, especially after blocking.

Now wet block the finished piece if you have not already done so. Lace only fully reveals itself when blocked, and this is especially true at a grafted join. Pin the edging out to its full dimensions — using blocking wires along the straight edges and pins at the points or scallops of the decorative border — and allow it to dry completely.

When you unpin the blocked piece and hold the join up to the light, what you are looking for is continuity. The eyelets should form a smooth, uninterrupted line across the join. The decreases should lean in the same direction as their counterparts on either side. The tension should match the surrounding fabric. If all of this is true, you have grafted your lace edging successfully.

Why This Technique Is Worth Mastering

Grafting lace edgings is one of those finishing skills that separates a technically confident knitter from one who is still relying on workarounds — folding the work, sewing with a running stitch, or hoping that blocking will smooth over a seam that is fundamentally visible. Learning to graft lace opens up new possibilities in pattern design and gives you a cleaner, more professional result in any project where an edging must be joined.

It also deepens your understanding of lace structure in a way that nothing else quite does. To graft a lace row, you must understand it at the level of individual stitches — what each yarnover is doing, which way each decrease leans, how the negative space of the eyelets is held in place by the positive space of the knit stitches around them. That understanding makes you a better lace knitter in every context, not just when grafting.

Edging Pattern 2 is a beautiful place to practice this skill. Its structure is complex enough to be genuinely instructive, but regular enough that once you have worked through one repeat, subsequent repeats flow more naturally. The pattern rewards careful attention with a finished edge that is truly lovely — and a join that no one but you will ever know was there.

A Few Notes on Practice

If you are new to grafting lace, do not attempt your first graft on a finished project. Knit a small swatch of the edging pattern, work a few inches, then practice grafting across the center. Block it and examine the result. Do this two or three times until you feel comfortable with the process, and then apply the technique to your actual project.

Keep your pattern row printed or written in front of you the entire time you are grafting. Do not try to work from memory, even if you know the pattern well from knitting it. The cognitive load of grafting itself — tracking which needle you are on, maintaining consistent tension, watching the fabric as it forms — is enough without also trying to remember whether the yarnover comes before or after the k2tog in stitch four.

Work slowly. Grafting cannot be rushed. A lace edging that took you hours to knit deserves a finishing join that receives full attention, even if that means setting it aside for a moment when you feel your focus slipping.

And when it is done — when the blocking pins come out and the edging lies flat and open and the join has simply vanished into the fabric — take a moment to appreciate what you have made. A seamless, handmade object, finished with a technique as old as knitting itself, and as beautiful as anything in the craft.