Right after I published a tutorial about the lovely lace-like yarn over edging, I’ve got a message from Julia R with a suggestion to turn this edging into a bind off that we could use to finish off toe-up socks, top-down sweaters and other projects that benefit from a delicate bind off edge.
It was a terrific idea so I set to experimenting with yarn and needles to develop a bind off method that mimics the look of the yarn over edging. After quite a few attempts to achieve this look by combining different knitting techniques, I’m more than happy to share with you a method that forms an interesting edge with overlapping loops on top.
These yarn loops look like droplets of water that we see on tree branches and on garden furniture after a rain.
This analogy prompted a name for this bind off – Droplets Bind Off.
Let’s see how this method works step by step. To watch each step explained below in a video tutorial:
STEP 1
Make a reverse yarn over. Unlike a regular yarn over, reverse yarn over is formed when we first bring the yarn to the back of the right needle and then move it over the needle from back to front.
If you want to make the droplets bigger, keep the yarn over fairly loose.
STEP 2
Make a “slip slip knit” decrease.
Use the classic way of making this decrease – slip two stitches one by one knitwise from the left needle to the right needle.
Return both stitches to the left needle purlwise, without twisting the stitches.
And knit them together through the back loop.
STEP 3
Insert the tip of the left needle from left to right into the resulting stitch so that the left needle in at the front of the right needle.
Push the tip of the right needle a bit further so that it enters the next stitch on the left needle.
Wrap the right needle with the yarn and pull the wrap through both stitches knitting them together through the back loop.
STEP 4
Now it is time to deal with the reverse yarn over that’s been patiently waiting for its turn while we were knitting stitches together in two different ways.
Insert the tip of the left needle from left to right into the yarn over.
Pass it over the first stitch from the tip of the right needle and off the needle.
STEP 5
Slip the lonely stitch on the right needle to the left needle. Do it purlwise, without twisting the stitch.
Repeat these five steps until you bind off all stitches.
If you have an odd number of stitches on the needles, you will have only one stitch on your needles after you finish step 4 of the bind off.
Cut the yarn, pass it through the last stitch and pull tight to secure.
If there is an even number of stitches on your needles, you will have two stitches left after you finish the last step of the bind off.
Either bind off the last stitch as usual by knitting it and passing one stitch over the other, or simply knit these two stitches together through the back loop.
Then cut the yarn, pass it through the last stitch and pull tight to secure.
To help the droplets shine, pull each loop slightly when you block your project.
This bind off method is the same for projects worked back and forth and the ones worked in the round.
The edge formed by this bind off is not fully reversible. It looks good on both sides of the work, but the fabric is not identical. For best result, bind off stitches in a right side row with the nicer side of the fabric facing you.
SAVE IT FOR LATER:
This and 41 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #6.
