A new selvage treatment

Instead of doing a swatch for the jumper mentioned in a previous blog or finishing my cardigan (which I need to complete by February 28), I've been working on my second Diamond Wrap. You know how it is - the finish line is in sight so you knit and knit and knit! :-)

This wrap needs two side panels to make it the correct width. Each panel is four and a half inches wide and 70 inches long. I was going to make them complicated, following my diamond theme, perhaps with shadow knitted diamonds but I was tired and decided to go for a simple treatment - four row stripes in two colours. I have now knitted 264 rows of the 606 required for the first panel - and I wish I'd taken the more complicated path! The striping is so monotonous to knit, although it looks just as I had planned. The only saving grace is I learnt a new selvage from Vogue Knitting (1989, p.194). It's called 'chain stitch selvage' and is used on garter stitch as follows:

With the yarn in front, slip the first stitch purlwise, with the yarn in back, knit to the end. Repeat this row.

My tension is a little uneven, but this gives a lovely finished edge, very different from the bumps one usually gets at the end of each knit row. I think it's perfect since this will be the raw edge of the wrap.

Here are the photos - right side and wrong side: isn't it a neat finish?

Edited 28 Feb to include photos.