Expert: Bea Harrell - 4/24/2007

Question
Hi Bea,
Can you tell me what kind of a border to crochet around an afghan that I'm making in a zig-zag pattern of double crochet.Each row begins with a double crochet, then a skipped stitch.(Just the first two and last two stitches on each row.)        Many thanks.    Ellie

Answer
Hi, Ellie!  I've been looking through my patterns for something nice. I couldn't find anything that wouldn't involve a lot of stitch counting, however.  
  Since your pattern doesn't include a border, there are a couple of things you can do. The easiest is to add a contrasting color for a simple border, just matching stitch for stitch, add 3 more rows of dc's and in the skipped spaces at the beginning & end of each row, (for the first border row)put 3 dc. Then for rows 2 & 3 of the border, just dc in each dc. What you'll get will be a tailored border with a slight flare at the beginning & end of the border. If you want more flare, just add more dc's to the empty spaces.(skipped stitches)
Another way, would be to add a row of chain stitches (say ch 5 or 7, needs to be an uneven number) to each end of the afghan. Make sure the chains are snug against the last row of the afghan, and say you chain six, skip 4 stitches, sc in the next st, all the way across. If you're going to do all 4 sides, then work your way around, but for 2 sides, break off and work the other side in the same way.  For row 2 just sc in the in the chain, dc,tr, dtr,tr, dc & sc. Do this in each chain, and you'll have a border of triangles.
I hope this helps, or gives you some ideas of your own!

Best of Luck,  Bea