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April 15, 2018 Tip of the Week — The Rainey Sisters Ravelry Group

When working top down sweaters, the bottom edge is not the cast on edge obviously, but rather the bound off edge. The standard bind off is very inflexible, unstretchy. We often do a stretchy bind off to mimic the “give” achieved by casting on. Sometimes all that is needed is to go up a needle size or two when doing the bind off, but this tip gives you an addition al option!

We often use our favorite shawl bind off, in whatever stitch combination works best (i.e., rib, plain knit for garter, etc.). Use a smaller needle to make sure the bind off is not ripply!!

Knit Stitch: k2; insert left needle into the front of the 2 sts on the right needle (like you do for SSK) and k2tog through the back loop (1 st bound off, one st on RH needle). Now k1 and cont. as described to end of row.

Purl Stitch: p2; insert left needle into the back of the 2 sts on the right needle and p2tog (1 st bound off, one st on RH needle). Now p1 and cont. as described to end of row.

In the picture you can see a small “dot” in the bind off. That is the extra yarn added by working the sts twice – this gives it the stretch. You can also see in the picture that the finished width of the bind off is the same as the ribbed hem so it does not ripple.

Tip #2: Are your taxes done??!!

Tip #3: Don’t forget to scroll down in case you have not yet seen Surly’s latest FO!

PS to Suzan from Susan:

Suzan commented as follows, “After many less-than-perfect attempts to do a standard bind off using large needles, I decided I should do Jenny’s stretchy bind off instead. And I actually think I can remember how to do it from project to project. Can you elaborate on why your bind off is better than that one for sweaters? Thanks!”

We are not saying this bind off is better than another if that bind off works for you.  In my experience, Jenny’s Stretchy bind off is really stretchy and often “sloppy.”  That can be okay for a shawl when the outer edge needs to be aggressively blocked.  In the sweater above, I did not want the bind off to stretch so much as “give.”  And I did not want it to be wider than the ribbing, which a looser bind off would be.  I also find this bind off to be easy to remember: k1, ** k1, k2tog TBL**  Repeat between **  **