Baby Blanket Edging

Look at all those ends!  I don't like weaving in ends.  It's one of my least favorite things.  My plan was to hide them all in the edging.
I tried all sorts of things ... blanket stitching over the ends with the dark grey yarn, then sc over that ... slip stitching over the ends then sc over that ... and probably a couple other things I've blocked from my memory.  They all caused the edge to buckle.

I know it's blasphemy, but usually I tie my ends in square knots.  In this case, it didn't really work because the ends weren't right next to each other, so when I tied them, the edge of the blanket would buckle.  Gah!

What I ended up doing, is grabbing the first two double crochets and crocheting around them (see red marks above).

To make the edging, I...

Row 1:

• used 5.0mm hook
• used two strands of yarn
• crocheted around the first two double crochets
• made two sc per row
• snipped yarn ends to the height of row

Row 2:

• going in the same direction as the first row with a single strand of yarn, sc in back loop of each stitch in the first row

The second row gave the edge an architectural vibe.  Masculine as opposed to frilly and feminine.

Here's what the back of the edging looks like.

I didn't secure the ends at all, except for this edging.  Since the edging encloses two whole double crochets, I'm banking on the fact that the crocheting itself will keep everything from unraveling.

The Knit Picks Swish is superwash wool, so it won't felt, but I know from Andrew's gloves that the yarn is a will stick to itself -- the edges of some of his finger tubes started to wear, but the stitches didn't just sproing apart.

I believe this blanket will stand up to years of washing and wear and tear ... and look good doing it!