Binding Off

You may be wondering…How do I stop?  How do I finish this PKP or scarf or whatever knitting you  may have going?

You need to BIND OFF.

It’s a fairly simple process, but the trick is in the TENSION.  This word, tension, refers to how tight or loose the stitches are.  And in this case, you must have a loose tension in all the bind off stitches!  Really, YOU MUST!

So here’s how to go about Binding Off your final row of stitches:

Knit two stitches. Loosely.^(see photo above)

Take the left-hand needle and pick up the first stitch on the right-hand needle…^ Note: The “first stitch” is the one closest to your right hand, not the one closest to the tip of the right-hand needle.

Pass it over the second stitch…^

And remove the left-hand needle from the loop, leaving the second stitch on the right hand needle.^

Knit another stitch. Stay loose!^

Then pass the FIRST STITCH over this newly knitted stitch.^

Repeat these last two steps over and over…the above^ is a photo of how it will look along the way. I’m getting ready to pass the first knitted stitch over the second one.

Here I’m pulling the second stitch through…^

…and off.^

Keep going, repeating these steps until you get to the very end.

You will have one loop left on your right hand needle.^

Cut the yarn, leaving a longish tail (6 inches) and pull this tail through the final loop on your needle:

Give the end a little tug to close the knot and…Voilà!  You’re done!

Well, almost.  You gotta weave in all those ends!  Click here to learn how to do this!

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