By ShowMeStepByStepPublished Updated
Based on a video by Sheep & Stitch.
You've worked your way through a few rows. The fabric is sitting on your needle and looking pretty good. The last thing left is to get it off the needle without the whole thing falling apart - that's the bind off (sometimes called the cast off).
Davina from Sheep & Stitch walks through the standard bind-off method one stitch at a time. The whole technique is two moves on repeat: knit a stitch, then lift the previous stitch over and off. Keep doing that across the row, snip your yarn, pull the tail through the last loop, and you're done.
Use the same yarn and needles you knit your project with. Bulky yarn and 10mm needles, like Davina uses, make every stitch easy to see while you learn the rhythm.
Start at the beginning of a fresh row. Knit the first stitch the way you normally would, then knit the second one. You now have two live stitches sitting on the right needle.
That's the setup. The bind off needs exactly two stitches on the right needle to work - one to lift, and one to leave behind.
Use the tip of your left needle to dig under the first stitch on the right needle (the one closer to the body of your work). Lift it up, bring it over the second stitch, and let it drop off the end of the right needle.
One stitch has been bound off. One stitch is left on the right needle. Davina calls it leapfrogging - the first stitch jumps over the second.
You've got one stitch on the right needle. You need two before you can leapfrog again. So knit one more stitch from the left needle.
Now there are two on the right. Use the left needle to lift the first one over the second and drop it off, exactly like before. That's the whole pattern.
Tip
Always count: two stitches on the right needle, never more, never less. If you ever see three, you skipped a leapfrog somewhere.
Settle into the rhythm. Knit one. Lift the previous stitch over. Knit one. Lift over. Keep going all the way across the row.
You'll see a tidy little ridge forming along the top of your work as the bound-off stitches chain together. That's the edge that holds everything in place once you're off the needles.
Tip
Knit loosely while you bind off. A tight bind off pulls the top edge in and makes scarves and blankets look puckered. If your edge feels stiff, ease up on the tension.
Eventually you'll work down to the very last stitch on the left needle. Knit that one onto the right needle so you've got two stitches sitting there.
Lift the first one over the second one final time. The left needle is now empty. The right needle holds a single loop - that's your last stitch.
Pull the last loop up to make it a little bigger so it doesn't tighten while you work. Pick up your scissors and snip the working yarn, leaving a tail of about 6 to 10 inches.
You want enough length to thread through the last stitch and weave the end into the fabric later. Too short and you can't hide the tail.
Slide your needle out of the last loop. Take the tail end you just cut and feed it through that loop. Pull the tail snug and the loop closes around it.
That knot locks the bind off. Your knitting is officially off the needles. Use a tapestry needle to weave the tail back into the fabric for a few inches, trim any extra, and the project is finished.
Tip
Weave the tail through the back of the bound-off ridge for a couple inches, then double back the other way. That little change of direction keeps the tail from working its way out with wear.
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