The Italian bind-off is my absolute favorite. It’s a very practical technique to learn, creating a beautiful, professional-looking, and stretchy bind-off edge. It’s perfect for ribbing. I’ve used it in my UkiUki Balaclava knitting pattern. As you can see in the picture, the bind-off appears as a seamless continuation of the ribbing.

The method may seem confusing initially, but trust me, after you’ve done it two or three times, it will become super easy. The technique for knitting flat and in the round is identical. However, I’m going to share a trick for finishing your work in the round that I learned a few years back and have been loving ever since. It makes the finishing of the bind off look much cleaner and seamless.

Italian bind off

Preparation:

1. After finishing your knitting break the yarn, leaving a tail that is approximately 3-4 times the length of the edge you want to bind off. Most tutorials recommend 4 times the length, it always ends up too long for me but if you’re doing this for the first time, consider leaving more tail to ensure you have enough for the bind off.

2. Thread the tail onto a tapestry needle.

3. Place pins on the first two stitches so that you can easily find and use them at the end of the bind off process.

Italian bind off repeat:

1. Insert the needle into the knit stitch as if to knit and take it off the needle.

2. Skip the purl stitch and go through the next knit stitch as if to purl. Pull the yarn through.

3. Go through the purl stitch as if to purl and remove it from the needle.

4. Go behind the knit stitch and into the next purl stitch as if to knit. Pull the yarn through.

5. Repeat steps 1-4 until only 2 stitches remain on your needles.

Finishing:

1. Take the knit stitch off the needle as if to knit.

2. Skip the purl stitch (the last stitch on your needles).

3. Lift the pin with the first bound off stitch and insert the needle into it as if to purl. Pull the yarn through.

4. Go through the purl stitch as if to purl and remove it from the needle.

5. Lift the second pin and insert the needle into the stitch knitwise. Pull the yarn through.

6. Weave in the end.

Tutorial:

Tadaaa!

Happy knitting,

Marta

Stay tuned for more life-changing techniques.

This newsletter is completely free for everyone. However, if you enjoy my content and would like to support me, you have the option to buy a subscription. By doing so, you contribute to the growth and sustainability of this newsletter. Your support means the world to me.

A seamless cast on in the round is something I learned much too late. It’s so simple, yet you do it without thinking about improving it, and you just go on with your life with a jog in every piece you work on, haha.

There are a couple of methods for a jogless cast on in the round. I’m going to show you the most popular ones. You can choose the one you like the most. I love how beautifully simple they are.

I’m also going to show you what to do if you’ve already joined in the round and have a jog.

NOTE: Always remember to make sure your stitches are not twisted—all the stitches should be facing the inside of the needle.

Slipping an extra stitch over the first stitch:

1. Cast on one extra stitch ( e.g. if the pattern calls for 50 stitches, cast on 51).

2. Using your right needle, grab the first stitch on the left needle and transfer it to the right needle as if to purl.

3. Using your left needle, grab the second stitch on the right needle and slip it over the stitch we just transferred (like a bind-off).

4. Tighten up the stitch.

5. There are actually two schools of thought when it comes to starting knitting at this point. Some people leave the stitch on the right needle, place a marker after this stitch, and start knitting. Others transfer the stitch back to the left needle, place a marker on the left needle, and start knitting. I personally use the first method (I’m showing both options in the tutorial).

Knitting an extra stitch with the first stitch together:

1. Transfer the last stitch from your right needle onto your left-hand needle, being careful not to unravel this stitch.

2. Knit the first two stitches together.

3. This stitch is now the first stitch of the round. You can either:

   • Place a pin marker on it to mark the beginning of the round, or

   • Slip it back onto the left-hand needle, place a marker on the right-hand needle, and then slip the stitch back onto the right-hand needle.

Swapping positions of the first and last cast on stitch:

1. Slip the first cast on stitch from the left to the right-hand needle.

2. Pass the second-to-last stitch from the right-hand needle over the stitch we just slipped to the left-hand needle, keeping it on the left-hand needle.

3. Place a marker between these two swapped stitches.

4. Start knitting.

What to do I you have already joined in the round and have a jog:

1. Locate the V-stitches just past the slip knot.

2. Insert the needle into the first V-stitch past the slip knot from the side opposite to where the tail is.

3. Return to the V-stitch that is directly before the tail.

4. Insert your needle between the legs of this V-stitch, going towards the inside.

Tadaaaa! Hope this helps!

Stay tuned for more life-changing techniques.

This newsletter is completely free for everyone. However, if you enjoy my content and would like to support me, you have the option to buy a subscription. By doing so, you contribute to the growth and sustainability of this newsletter. Your support means the world to me.

So, I made the neck warmer and felt immensely proud when he opened it and said it looked awesome. However, this story is about learning from your mistakes. At the time, as a beginner, there were things I didn’t know. I had finished the neck ribbing with a basic bind-off, which I now understand isn’t stretchy. The neckwarmer wouldn’t fit over his head. That was quite disappointing.

Fortunately, I’ve since learned how to knit a stretchy bind-off, ensuring I won’t make the same mistake again. And today, I’m here to share that knowledge with you, so you can create the best—and most importantly, wearable ;) —handmade gifts for your loved ones.

Stretchy Bind-Off

This technique varies depending on the stitch pattern you’re using. I’ll demonstrate the garter stitch and 1x1 ribbing variations, which will give you a good foundation to apply this bind-off to other stitches.

Garter Stitch Stretchy Bind-Off:

1. Knit two stitches.

2. Insert the left-hand needle into these two stitches from the front.

3. Knit these two stitches together through the back loop.

4. Knit one more stitch and repeat steps 2 and 3.

As you can see, you always want to have two worked stitches on the right-hand needle.

1x1 Ribbing Stretchy Bind-Off:

If the first stitch of your ribbing sample is a knit stitch and the second one is a purl stitch, continue in this pattern. For the stretchy bind-off, you’ll knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches.

1. Knit the knit stitch, then purl the purl stitch.

2. Now, you have two worked stitches on your right-hand needle, with the last stitch being a purl stitch. Remember, we knit the knits and purl the purls. So, bring the working yarn to the front of your work.

3. Insert the left-hand needle into the two stitches from the back.

4. Purl these two stitches together.

5. The next stitch is a knit stitch. Work it. Now, the last stitch on your right-hand needle is a knit stitch.

6. Insert the needle into the two stitches on your right-hand needle from the front.

7. Knit the two stitches together through the back loop.

And that’s how you do it!

Here are some of my favorite tutorials for the stretchy bind-off:

Hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Marta

This newsletter is completely free for everyone. However, if you enjoy my content and would like to support me, you have the option to buy a subscription. By doing so, you contribute to the growth and sustainability of this newsletter. Your support means the world to me.

The first post in this series will focus on a seamless bind off in the round. I remember the struggles I faced when finishing my first beanies and sweaters. I assumed that a jog was inevitable when binding off in the round. However, that’s not the case. You can achieve a neat bind off in the round, and it’s surprisingly quick and easy!

Knitting in the round essentially creates a spiral, resulting in a jog at the start and end. I want to show you how to bind off in the round without the jog.

As you may know, a basic bind off creates a series of V’s. When you bind off in the round, you end up with one less V than the actual number of stitches you had. The goal of this technique is to create an additional V to close the circle.

All you need for this technique is a tapestry needle.

This is how it’s done:

1. Cut the yarn, then pull the last stitch until the tail comes out. Thread this tail onto a tapestry needle.

2. Insert the needle under both legs of the first ‘V’ (first stitch you knitted in the round), then pull the yarn through.

3. Return to the last ‘V’ in the circle. Insert the needle under the inside leg of the ‘V’, from the center out, then pull the yarn through.

4. Finally, weave in the end.

Here are some of my favourite tutorials for this technique:

Tadaaaa! Hope this helps!

Stay tuned for more life-changing techniques.

This newsletter is completely free for everyone. However, if you enjoy my content and would like to support me, you have the option to buy a subscription. By doing so, you contribute to the growth and sustainability of this newsletter. Your support means the world to me.