Binding off.  Well, there’s not a whole lot to say about that, is there?  I mean, you’re done knitting, you bind off, right?

Pshaw!  Of course not!

While I don’t think quite as many techniques exist for binding off as casting on, there are quite a few.  And the CO and BO edges can make or break an otherwise lovely project:  the main issue being edges that are too tight, and that affect the shape of the finished piece.

Regular bind-off / binding off in pattern

Binding off is an “add-on” technique, that is, it is added to whatever you are doing at the time.  The act of binding off a st has nothing to do with whether it was knitted, purled, or even slipped (though this is rarely done).  This idea is often stated in instructions as "bind off in pattern".  For example, if you are doing a k2, p2 rib, then you continue to k2 & p2 as you bind off.  You would not simply knit across the whole row as you bind off, unless you are shooting for a particular effect.

Correctly positioning a bound-off section

 
This can be tricky, because

in order to bind off a specific st, you must work the st after it. 

 
This point is critical to understanding how to properly bind off, say, necklines.
Binding off works like this:
  • work st #1
  • work st #2, bind off st #1
  • work st #3, bind off st #2
  • work st #4, bind off st #3
and so on and so forth.  So, in this case, we have worked 4 sts, but we have bound off only 3 of them.  Get it?
 
Example: 
if you have 30 sts, and you want to bind off the center 10 sts — to be specific, you want to bind off sts #11 through #20 – you must actually work 12 sts before you can bind off st #11.
 
You work the first 10 sts.
Then you work #11,
work #12,
and only then can you bind off #11.
 
Similarly, you have to work st #21 to bind off st #20 – but #21 stays on the needle and continues to be worked in subsequent rows.

Bind-off techniques for practical applications

 
Suspended bind-off:  for people who habitually bind off too tightly, and are (like me) too lazy to go get a larger needle.  Instead of dropping the bound-off st off the tip of the left needle after you have pulled it over, leave it there while you work the next st, and drop it off when you drop the newly worked st.
 
sm_SaraScarf3Sometimes you may want a tight CO or BO edge, such as on a knit scarf where you don’t want the ends flaring out.  I did a 2 x 2 rib scarf for one of my nieces several years ago, where I wanted the edges to be nice and square, since the rest of the scarf was very geometrical.

In such a case, you can use 1 over 2 bind-off:  work the first 3 sts, then pull the first st over the next two (instead of just over 1). Work another st and repeat.

This produces a very tight edge.  Thus it is not suitable for any edge that is going to get any kind of stretch or wear – for example it might work well on a wide, boatneck style neckline, to prevent it from stretching out too much, but it would not work well on a regular crew style neckline that has to stretch over a head.

 My niece requested that the scarf look "like it came from J. Crew" or something, I think, so I did 2 sets of big blocks of the 6 chosen colors, and then I was stumped.  Two sets was too short, but another set of the big blocks would have made it too long.  So I did a set of half-size blocks at the end.  Pretty funky, I say:  design by problem-solving.  I told you I used to be an engineer.



sm_SaraScarf2

The scarf’s color scheme was not my choice, but that’s not to say I didn’t have some fun knitting it, out at the beach.

 

OTOH:  if you do NOT want a tight BO edge on your ribbing, you can use something akin to the next technique, the K2tog or decrease BO.  Take a look at this post for some additional info on using it for ribbing…



 

Bind-off techniques for decorative edges

K2tog or decrease bind-off:  K2tog tbl, place new st back on LH needle, repeat.  Easy-peasy.

Attached I cord bind-off:  CO 3 sts to LH needle. ** Knit 2 sts, k2tog, replace 3 sts to left needle. **

Of course, if you can attach I-cord, you can attach any other thing to a bound off edge, too…

[Note:  I am unsure of my source(s) for the next two bindoffs - I first wrote this material over a year ago for a class, so yes, I admit it, I am recycling... anyway, I am in the midst of moving my studio bookshelves and sorting out ALL the books, therefore many of them are in piles, and currently it's a bit difficult for me to go browse in there and see if I can figure out where I found these.  But, they aren't unique:  the idea here is that you can knit any kind of narrow piece and attach it to live sts as you go, with a k2tog (k tog one st from the edging and one live st from the main piece).] 

Attached lace bind-off: Creates a saw-tooth shaped lacy edge.
 
The number of sts to bind off must be a multiple of 4. All slips are pwise wyif.
 
CO 5 sts to LH needle. K5, turn.
 
Row 1: Slip 1; K1, YO twice, K2tog, K1 – 6 sts. Turn.
Row 2: Slip 1; K2, P1, K1, K2tog – 6 sts, one st bound off. Turn.
Row 3: Slip 1; K3, YO twice, K2 – 8 sts. Turn.
Row 4: Slip 1; K2, P1, K3, K2tog – 8 sts, one st bound off. Turn.
Row 5: Slip 1; K1, YO twice, K2tog, K4 – 9 sts. Turn.
Row 6: Slip 1; K5, P1, K1, K2tog – 9 sts, one st bound off. Turn.
Row 7: Slip 1; K8 – 9 sts. Turn.
Row 8: BO 4 sts, K3, K2tog – 5 sts, one st bound off. Turn.
 
Repeat rows 1 – 8 for pattern.
 
Attached cable bind-off: "from Eleanor Roosevelt’s personal knitting library, sent to her from an unknown admirer."
 
The number of sts to be cast off must be a multiple of 8. (? I think this is an error – probably it should be 4 – there are only 4 bound-off sts in the repeat)
 
CO 12 sts to LH needle. K5, turn.
 
Row 1: (RS) Slip 1, P2, K6, P2, K2tog – one st bound off. Turn.
Row 2: Slip 1, K2, P6, K3. Turn.
Row 3: repeat row 1 – one st bound off.
Row 4: repeat row 2.
Row 5: repeat row 1 – one st bound off.
Row 6: repeat row 2.
Row 7: Slip 1, P2, cable 6, P2, K2tog – one st bound off. Turn.
Row 8: repeat row 2.
 
Repeat rows 1 – 8 for pattern.
 
 
And finally, when you really are done knitting -

To neaten the last st of a bind-off row

 
Work until you have one st left on the LH needle. Slip this st to the RH needle.
Use the LH needle to pick up a loop just underneath the slipped st, and put this on the RH needle.
Slip the loop & the st back to the LH needle.
Work the loop and the st tog, and bind off the next-to-last st. Cut yarn and pull through the last st.
 
Happy Knitting!