One of the best ways to finish off toe-up socks, neck bands of bottom-up sweaters, cuffs of top-down sweaters, and other seamless pieces that need an elastic edge is to bind off stitches using the tubular bind off technique.
Yes, this method is a bit tedious, but you’ve spent hours working on that project and it deserves a proper treatment of its bind off edge. It is a lot like a bang at the end of a beautiful piece of music – something that will make you proud of your work. And that feeling is well worth the extra effort we are going to put into forming this neat elastic edge.
Don’t worry – I broke down the process of making this lovely elastic edge into five simple steps. Follow these steps and you’ll master this knitting technique without any issues.
There is nothing tricky about tubular bind off, as long as we understand what we are doing. And that understanding is what I’m happy to share with you in this tutorial.
QUICK NOTE
In this tutorial, we’ll see how we can use tubular bind off to finish off projects worked in the round. If you’d like to use this method to bind off stitches of a project worked back and forth, click here.
No matter whether you bind off stitches of a project worked flat, or the one worked in the round, make sure the number of stitches is an even number. If you are working over an odd number of stitches, make an increase or a decrease in the first setup round.
SETUP
This bind off has the same structure as 1 x 1 ribbing. That makes it perfect for finishing off pieces worked in this type of rib.
We can also use this method to bind off stitches worked in other stitch patterns, but the edge of the fabric will look like “knit 1, purl 1” ribbing, as you can tell from the photo below.
This resemblance comes from two set up rounds worked before we bind off stitches. If your project is worked in 1 x 1 ribbing, you can skip these rounds and move directly to the “Bind Off” section below.
Keep in mind though, that omitting the set up rounds will make the edge flatter and more prone to flaring out. If you want to avoid these issues, take a few extra minutes to properly set up the scene for your beautiful edging.
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SETUP ROUND 1: [knit 1, slip 1 purlwise with the yarn at the front of the work]
Repeat the brackets to the end of the round.
SETUP ROUND 2: [slip 1 purlwise with the yarn at the back of the work, purl 1]
Repeat the brackets to the end of the round.
These two rounds form the “tube” that gives the name to this bind off method – “tubular”. Now, that this tube is in place we can move on to the final part of the process – the bind off itself.
BIND OFF
We’ll close stitches with a wool needle. That means two things – we need a wool needle and we need to cut the yarn leaving a fairly long tail.
To make sure we don’t run out of yarn before we bind off all stitches, the tail should be at least three times the length of the bind off edge.
I usually leave a tail that is four times the length of the edge. I never use all of that yarn, but it gives me a peace of mind to know that the tail is definitely long enough for the task.
Whether you decide to make the yarn tail a bit longer or not, measuring it is very easy. Place the yarn on the edge of the fabric to trace the length of the edge. Don’t stretch the yarn or the fabric – they both should be relaxed.
Fold the yarn three or four times that length and cut the yarn.
To make it easier for you to see how this bind off is done, I attached a piece of yarn in a contrasting colour to my swatch as if it were the yarn tail that comes directly from the fabric.
Thread the yarn tail into a wool needle.
STEP 1
Place the wool needle to the back of the first knit stitch and insert it from left to right into the first purl stitch.
Pull the yarn through.
This step is the most awkward part of the bind off, but we need this unusual maneuver to make the bind off edge look fully seamless.
From now on, we’ll join stitches in pairs – knits to knits and purls to purls.
STEP 2
In this step, we’ll join two knit stitches.
Insert the wool needle from left to right into the first knit stitch on the left knitting needle. Slip this stitch off the needle. Then insert the wool needle from right to left into the next knit stitch.
When we consider the position of each stitch, we’ll see that we insert the wool needle from front to back into the first knit stitch and from back to front into the next knit stitch.
Slip the first purl stitch and the second knit stitch off the knitting needle. Both stitches are now secured with the yarn tail, and they are not going to unravel. By taking them off the needle, we clear the space for the next steps, and we make it easier for us to see the rest of the stitches.
Note that we’ll use the very first knit and purl stitches again when we do the final steps of the bind off. To help us find these stitches in the fabric later on, place a locking stitch marker or a safety pin into each of these stitches. This helpful trick is especially important if you use a fine yarn or a yarn in a dark colour.
Pull the yarn through but don’t pull it too tight. The strand at the top of the edge (the one marked by a blue oval in the photo) should be approximately as long as one leg of an average stitch in this project.
STEP 3
In this step, we’ll work with a pair of purl stitches.
Insert the wool needle from back to front into the purl stitch that is slipped off the needle, and from left to right (front to back) into the first purl stitch from the tip of the knitting needle.
Slip the purl stitch off the knitting needle and pull the yarn to form a strand at the top of the bind off edge.
STEP 4
Now we are back to the knits.
Insert the wool needle from front to back into the knit stitch that is slipped off the needle, and from right to left (back to front) into the first knit stitch on the knitting needle.
Slip the knit stitch off the knitting needle and pull the yarn to form a strand at the top of the bind off edge.
This is the main logic behind tubular bind off – we join stitches in pairs and we go front-to-back and back-to-front into knit stitches (Step 3), and back-to-front-front-to-back into the purls (Step 4).
Repeat these steps until you close all stitches and your knitting needles are empty.
STEP 5 – FINISHING THE BIND OFF
When you join the last pair of purl stitches and slip the last stitch off the knitting needle, it is time to join the last two stitches to the first two stitches. We’ll follow the same process and join these stitches in pairs.
5.1 First, we’ll join the knits.
Insert the wool needle from front to back into the last knit stitch and from back to front into the first knit stitch. That’s when we come to fully appreciate the help of the markers that we’ve placed in step 2.
Remove the marker from the knit stitch and pull the yarn through forming a nice strand at the top of the bind off edge.
5.2 Next come the purls.
Insert the wool needle from back to front into the last purl stitch and from front to back into the first purl stitch (the one that wears a marker).
Remove the marker and pull the yarn through forming the last strand at the top of the bind off edge. This strand instantly makes the edge look fully seamless.
Secure the yarn on the wrong side of the work and, as you have the yarn tail already threaded into a wool needle, weave it through a few stitches on the wrong side of the work.
As you see, tubular bind off forms a beautiful edge on a fabric worked in any stitch pattern – even a humble stockinette stitch gets an upgrade with this edging. But, of course, this method really shines when we use it to form an elastic edge on projects worked in “knit 1, purl 1” ribbing.
SAVE IT FOR LATER
This and 44 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #5.
