After finishing my last two fleece blankets, I decided to try a flannel blanket. My sister has made many flannel blankets with crocheted edges and they turn out so cute. Because I am learning to crochet edges on blankets with the trial and error method, I was not happy my first try.
To tell you why, I will start at the beginning. The first step was to cut two squares of flannel, sew them right sides together, turn, iron and stitch up the hole left from turning. So far so good. Next came using the skip-stitch 
blade. I decided that since it was flannel, I would use the skip-stitch blade #2 that cuts the slits closer together and is designed for flannels. Because of the seam allowance folded inside the blanket, I made the skip-stitch cut at 1 inch from the edge. Then I started to crochet, but the more I stitched the less I liked the results. At first, I thought the skip-stitch blade #2 should not say designed for flannels, but designed for lighter weight yarns or crochet cotton. In my opinion at the time, the slits from blade #2 were too close together for regular weight yarn. Second, 1 inch is too long of a drop for the stitch. It is very difficult to keep the fabric smooth underneath the long stitches. Third, with the weight and stiffness of the seam allowance I believe that a more rounded corner would be better then trying to stitch the square ones I have sewn. Because I was not happy with the results of my crocheting, I tried to doing a single crochet at the top of the edge instead of just a chain stitch. I would have called the little knot at the edge of the blanket the finish edge, but I still did not like the results. So instead of undoing and trying it again, I decided to try some variations in a row to compare them with the others.
The first thing I tried was abandoning the regular weight yarn for a lighter weight yarn. I then crocheted several stitches with the long drop. Next I crocheted some by folding the edge over to make a smaller drop. On these stitches, I chained at the top, so on the next couple of stitches, I single crocheted at the top 
edge keep the fold. I saw very quickly that I liked the folded edge or shorter drop. The difference between the chain and the single crochet at the top became a matter of what design I wanted, not what looked good. With these results, I went back to the regular weight yarn and tried it again with folding the edge as well as the chain and single crochet on the top. I quickly found out that the fold or the shorter drop is the answer I was looking for. Perhaps the skip-stitch blade #2 does not have to be relabeled for light weight yarn, but just don’t cut so far from the edge. Now the options are wide open. Do I sew the edge of the blanket again and cut with the skip-stitch blade again closer to the edge, or should I just do the fold? Do I use the lighter weight yarn or the regular weight? Do I do a chain at the top as a base stitch for the next row, or do a single crochet and see how that looks as the base row, or as the only row? Now, I just have to decided what I want to do.
One thing I learned while crocheting with the folded edge is that the holes from the skip-stitch are no longer lined up. You can not just push the hook through both pieces of fabric in one move. You have to put the hook through the first piece of fabric, then wiggle it a little to the slit in the second piece. The result looks matched so no problem there. It is not hard or time consuming to do this. In facts, it is a little easier and you’re less likely to pick up threads from the flannel. So, I will probably do this even if there is no fold.
Sew Forth and Sew On 