“Binding off” is the process of removing stitches from the needle. Sometimes you’ll see it referred to as “casting off.” They’re the same! One important tip to keep in mind when you’re binding off is to do it loosely in order to avoid a taut edge. Some people even use a larger needle to ensure a relaxed bind off edge. Here’s our Basic Bind Off Tutorial where we show you how to bind off in knit stitch… 

Basic Bind Off: Video Tutorial

Click To See Video Transcript

I am going to show you how to do a basic bind off. To begin knit two stitches…That’s one, two. Now that you’ve knit two stitches, use the tip of your left needle and insert it into the front of the right-most stitch on your right needle. Gently pull it up and over that left stitch on the right needle and off the right needle. You’ve bound off one stitch.

Now, knit one once again. We have two stitches on the right needle, so I’m going to use the tip of my left needle to pick up that right-most stitch. Gently pull it up and over the left stitch and off the right needle. We’ve bound off two. Once again knit one. Here we are with two stitches on our right needle. Use the left needle to bind one off. There we go.

Continue in this fashion until just one stitch remains on your right needle. Okay, now that I just have one stitch left on my right needle, I’m going to gently pull up. I’m going to remove the needle. I’m going to keep pulling my working yarn up a fair amount, and now I can cut my working yarn leaving about a six- to eight-inch tail. And here we have a fully bound off edge. You can see that this basic bind off creates kind of what looks like a sideways row of knit stitches. You have those Vs, but they’re running this way. That’s it. That’s a basic bind off.

BASIC BIND OFF: STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL

Basic Bind Off | Purl Soho

Set-Up Step: Knit the first two stitches of the row.

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Step 1: Insert the tip of the left needle into the front of the right-hand stitch on the right needle. Lift that stitch up and over the left-hand stitch.

Step 2: Allow the stitch on the left needle to drop off the needle, leaving just one stitch on the right needle.

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Knit another stitch and repeat Steps 1 and 2. Continue to work in this manner across the entire row until one stitch remains on the right needle.

Remove the last stitch from the needle, then pull a bit on the stitch so it’s a nice, big loop.

Cut the working yarn, leaving at least an 8-inch tail. Pull on the tail-side of the loop to bring the tail through the last two stitches you knit. Give a little tug and your knitting is bound off and secure!

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Basic Bind Off | Purl Soho

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