Is your knitting edge curling? 7 solutions to solve stocking stitch curl.

Is it possible to stop stockinette curling? In knitting, stocking stitch (stockinette) curls. It’s not you! You haven’t made a mistake, or done anything wrong if your knitting looks like the photograph below. It’s just what this stitch does.

I will cover strategies to stop stockinette curling. Seaming, hemming, and folding or intentionally curling the edges in a controlled way all make your stocking stitch look perfect.

Before we get into that, let’s look at what stocking stitch is, and why it curls.

All swatches shown in this post are knit on 3.5 mm needles, using Hobbii Baby Cotton Midi. 100% organic cotton. Yarn group 2, fine weight. 50g balls, 105 meters per ball.
Each square uses approximately 13 – 15 grammes of this yarn, or 27 to 32 meters per square.

What is stocking stitch?

The knit stitch we call Stocking Stitch in Europe, is called stockingette in the US. I honestly don’t know which it’s called in Canada, Australia or elsewhere. Do comment below if you know.

Stocking stitch is the stitch you get in knitting when you have all knit stitches on the front, or right side of the work.
If you are knitting in rows, back and forth on straight needles, you knit each right side row, and purl each wrong side row.
The swatch shown in mint yarn above was knitted by casting on 30 stitches, knit one row, purl the next, repeat for a total of 40 rows.

If you are knitting in the round, you don’t have a right and wrong side, so to knit stockinette, every round is knitted (no purling). Worked in the round like this, stocking stitch still curls at the top and bottom. It doesn’t curl on the side edges, because there are no side edges. But we still need to control for top and bottom curling.

This is something we usually discover early in our knitting. But I must admit, despite knitting for almost 50 years, I recently forgot. Below is a photo of a first (and rather awful) attempt to design a dolls dress. How did I forget that if I just cast off stocking stitch it would curl? Prototype one (the orange one with the bad hem) needed a bit of work, and that’s the fun of designing. Beside the orange dress with the curly hem, you can see the final version for the pattern, with a pretty hem that doesn’t curl, a purple version and a red one, both with a hem added to stop the curling problem.

But Why Does Stockinette Curl?

Because of physics! The back of the stitches take up more yarn, and therefore more space, than the ones on the front. The front (knit side) is microscopically shorter and wider than the back (purl) side.For this reason, the side edges will always curl to the back, while the top and bottom edges will always curl to the front.

How to prevent the curl in stocking stitch

So hopefully it’s now obvious that you haven’t done anything wrong, and it’s not you as a knitter causing your edges to curl. Its just what they do. But, knowing that, how do you get the look you want and stop stockinette curling?

Strategy 1. Sew a seam

When the work is sewn up, there is no more curl. In the photo below, the mint swatch is now sewn to another square, and on that one side, the curl is gone. Any stockinette knitting that will be seamed does not need any special strategy.

For those who also like to crochet, the extra square the knit swatch is sewn to is a crochet Jacobs Ladder stitch swatch.

Strategy 2. Edges with knits and purls

Any stitch that alternates knits and purls on the right side of the work for the first inch or so, and along the edge, prevents the curl.
In the 2 swatches below you can see where I have added a garter stitch edge, (purple swatch) and a moss stitch edge (pink swatch). Both of these place equal numbers of knit and purl stitches along the edge on the right side of the work. This means there is the same amount of yarn on the front and back, and it stops the curl.

My favourite of these 2 is the moss stitch. The garter stitch has no edge curl, but you may notice in the photographs that the corners are still a bit bockety. Its worth noting none of these swatches are blocked. Not because I’m lazy (well, maybe I am, a little, but …) I’m trying to show, especially for beginner knitters, what real knitting looks like, straight off the needles. Because that’s the moment many panic if they think it looks ‘wrong’.

To knit the garter stitch edge square

Cast on 34
Knit 6 rows.
Row 7: knit 4, purl to last 4, knit 4
Row 8: knit
Repeat the last 2 rows another 15 times, (32 total rows of stocking stitch with edge)
Knit 6 rows,
Cast off.

To knit the moss stitch edge square

Cast on 34
Row 1: [k1, p1] to end
Row 2: [p1, k1] to end
Repeat rows 1 and 2 twice more (six rows of moss stitch
Row 7: [k1, p1] 3 times, p to last 6 sts, [k1, p1] 3 times
Row 8: [p1, k1] 3 times, k to last 6 sts, [p1, k1] 3 times
Repeat the last 2 rows another 15 times. (32 total rows of stocking stitch with edge.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 3 times
Cast off.


Garter stitch and moss stitch are commonly used for this kind of edging, but you can use any knit and purl stitch pattern which puts roughly equal smooth fronts and back bumps on the right side of the work. Drop a comment if you have a favourite knit and purl border pattern that will stop stockinette curling.

Strategy 2b. Edges with ribbing

Ribbing is a variation of the knit/purl strategy, but here the knits and purls are stacked in columns. This creates a ridged, stretchy texture—perfect for hems, neckbands, and cuffs in wearable knits. The elasticity helps items hug the body comfortably. The rib section pulls in to be much narrower than the stocking stitch above it, as can be seen in the photo. However, for projects that need to lie flat (like blankets, dishcloths, or coasters), avoid ribbing—it can pull and distort the edges. Stick to the flat knit/purl combinations from earlier for those. However, rib with stocking stitch are a wonderful combination in knitting for garments. its a classic for a reason with pullovers, cardigans, hats, socks, etc. You can see my Marley Park pullover pattern as an example of a simple but effective knit using just stocking stitch and rib.

Strategy 3. Curl or fold on purpose

Another way to avoid a curling edge is to curl or fold the edge on purpose.
At its most basic, you can just let the stocking stitch curl. That’s just how its supposed to be, that’s what it does. Let your neck band curl down and show a few rows of the ‘wrong side’ of the work. Great for a casual or grunge look summer top.

A folded hem in knitting is where the starting or finishing rows are folded up and sewn into place, much like you would sew a hem in sewing.

A very well known version of this is the pico hem which is popular for a reason. It’s easy and looks great. For a pico hem, the row that will fold uses yarn overs beside stitches knitted together. This creates a row of holes. When the knitting is folded along that row of holes, you get a pretty edge of points, as shown below with the blue swatch. The side edges are still curling – in real life, these might be the sides that would be sewn together, but the top and bottom are nice and straight, with a pretty decorative finish.

To knit the pico edge swatch:

Cast on 34
Row 1: knit
Row 2: purl
Repeat rows 1 and 2 once more
Row 5: k2, [yo, k2tog] to last st, k1
Repeat row 1 and 2 for 36 rows
Repeat row 5
Repeat rows 1 and 2 twice more
Cast off
Fold the top and bottom carefully along the rows with yarn overs. Sew the Cast on and cast off rows carefully to the rows 4 rows away from the pico edge.

I love this example of this strategyy, but you can fold and sew a hem using any stitch, it doesn’t need the pico. Another option is to use one row of purl bumps – if knitting flat, knit three rows, if knitting in the round, purl one row. That will also give you a neat, easy point to fold your work along, and sew the hem.

Strategy 3b. Slip stitches and I-cords

Another version of folding or curling the edges on purpose is the i-cord, which can make a truly spectacular edge, whether for neckline, blanket or tea towel edges, or almost any other use.

An I-cord is created when we use the yarn at the back of the knitting to pull stitches closer, forming a cord.
It can be knit separately, and sewn in place afterwards, it can be knitted afterwards by picking up stitches along the edge of a piece of knitting, or you can do a something similar, not quite a perfect I-cord, by slipping the first stitches of the each row.

To knit an I-cord by itself, to later sew onto a project.

To knit an I-cord by itself, you should ideally use double pointed needles (DPNs), but you can get away with a circular needle, the shorter the cable the better.

Cast on between 3 and 5 stitches, depending on how wide you want your chord to be. I like 4 stitch i-chords, and am using 4 stitches here.

Cast on 4 sts
Row 1: knit 4. Do not turn
Row 2: slide stitches back to the start of the DPN. Pull on the yarn which is attached to the last stitch of the previous row. Knit 4.
Repeat row 2 for length of i-chord desired.

As you work, your knitting will curl around, forming a lovely curled up chord. Because the working yarn is always being pulled from the last stitch to the first stitch, it pulls the sides together, and shapes the knitting as a cylinder.

To create a slip stitch cord edge as part of a project.

You can create a similar effect, which doesn’t form as perfect a tube, but nearly, by slipping the first 2 or 3 stitches at the start of each row as you go. For this, you don’t need DPNs or circular needles, (unless they are the ones for the main project).

To knit a swatch with a slip stitch edge

Cast on 38 stitches
Row 1: With yarn held to the back of the work (WYIB) slip 3. Knit to end.
Row 2: with yarn held to the front of the work (WYIF) slip 3. Purl to end.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 another 20 times (42 rows in total).
Cast off.

You can stop stockinette curling.

Whether you choose to seam, add a decorative edge, or let the curl shine as a design feature, the key is to make it intentional. The above table might be worth keeping to check back on the next time you are deciding on an edge for a knitting project. Pin it to pinterest, or print it out and keep somewhere handy
My personal favourite? The moss stitch edge—it’s simple, pretty, and adds just the right touch of texture. It doesn’t matter if I’m making a square for a blanket, or a garment, it usually looks great. I also love a rib for anything I will wear. But what are yours? Which methods do you prefer? Share your thoughts (or photos of your projects!) in the comments, or tag me on Instagram @thefairythorn.

Want to take a closer look at other knitting edge issues? Check out my stretchy bind off strategies next

Happy knitting—and remember, there’s no such thing as a ‘wrong’ curl, just a design opportunity.