Cross Knit Looping Two Ways

I got pretty excited over the weekend, and it wasn't because of an Easter candy sugar rush. It's because I found a tutorial on cross-knit looping posted by Laverne Waddington on Backstrap Weaving. She shows how this looping variation can be used to edge a woven or knit piece:

It completely wraps around the edge and so can be used to hide a less than perfect selvedge or, by working it in a completely contrasting yarn color, it can add more life and interest to a piece.

Cross-knit is one of my favorite looping variations. I generally work it in the round for things like bags. Once you get started, Laverne's description for this edging is very much like working in the round with what I call a return to jump from the end of one row to the beginning of the next row. Toward the bottom of the post where you see Laverne's folded card images, imaging the return passing through the fabric (instead of along the lags of the previous row, for those of you who are following along in the glossary from a class).

For me, I think it would be easier to manage the thread if I held the work in a top-down orientation and worked from left to right (I'm right-handed).

This is an edging I definitely want to try. In the meantime, I'm posting an image of cross-knit looping worked in the round. In this MP3player cozy, I started with a needle chain oval base and worked from the base to the rim. In other words, the piece was held upside-down as I was working it. I've rotated a copy of the image to give you a better sense of the orientation.

The rolled edge on this piece gives you a peek at what the back side of the fabric looks like. And if you're playing along at home I'll just mention that I worked this project in a wool-mohair yarn with spit splices. Can't wait to see what happens when I run a Google search for that phrase.

Do you plan to give Laverne's edging a try? Or are you working on other looping projects or samples?