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‘Learn to Knit’ MINI SERIES, Week 3: The Bind Off / Weaving in the Ends
March 23, 2011 - By Ashley Johnston 14 Comments
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I’m absolutely loving learning how to knit. (Knitting series found here) I have had the same problem as some of you and feel like I need to keep things tight. But Rebecca’s advice is to just relax and think “loose”. And she’s right…….it’s a lot easier when I loosen everything up.
Are any of you first timers completely pleased at your little knitting needles as they are stitching away?
I totally am.
And my washcloth is uneven and a bit messy……but hey, it’s coming along. And that makes me a bit proud. So pat yourselves on the back if this is your first time knitting…
But oops, I don’t have my 8 inches yet, but I’ll sit down tonight and show that washcloth who’s boss. And then finish it off using this next lesson below.
Thank you Rebecca. I’m completely enjoying this……and I know others are too!
-Ashley
Howdy-do knit-a-roos! How’s that knit stitch going? Have you gotten up to 8” yet? I know it might not feel like it now as you stress out if you are doing everything right, but I promise the more you knit, the more relaxing it will get. I go into a happy little meditative space when I am knitting, I know that you will get there soon, too.
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This week I am going to show you how to finish off that washcloth.
When you are ready to end a project it is called binding off. We’re going to learn the most common form of bind off and then we are going to learn what is every knitter’s least favorite task: weaving in the ends.
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Let’s bind off! Grab your knitting and knit the first 2 stitches of the row as usual
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Grab the first stitch you knit with your left-hand needle
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And pull it OVER the second stitch. Make sure to pull your needle out of the stitch once it is pulled over the first one.
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You will have one stitch on your right-hand needle now.
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Knit the next stitch of the row, so you have 2 stitches on your right-hand needle again
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And pull the first stitch over the second stitch, so you only have one stitch on your right-hand needle again. You don’t need this very tight, remember to kind of loosen up. If you do it too tight you can end up with a piece that is smaller on one end than the other.
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Repeat this across the row: Knit one, pass over, knit one, pass over, until you have one stitch left on your right needle and can’t go any further (see that nice “chain” along the top edge? That’s what you want)
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At this point cut your yarn, leaving an 8-12” tail
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Then simply pull the end through the last loop
Pull it tight so it creates a nice little knot.
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Tah-Dah! Finished washcloth. Now we need to hide those pesky ends. You never want to tie a knot in your knitting when weaving in the ends. If you weave in an end and it gets loose, you can just weave it back in. If you tie a knot and it comes loose, there’s no end to weave in and you are stuck with a tail that can lead to unraveling and bad things. I know knots are easier, but no knots!
You always want to weave ends in on the backside of your work, but since both sides are the same here, just pick a side. Grab your tapestry needle and take a look at your washcloth. Can you see how the yarn runs through the stitches? That’s the path we are going to follow to weave in the ends.
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Thread one of the ends through your tapestry needle
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Follow the path of the yarn up
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Keep doing this until you’ve worked about 6” of tail into your washcloth and then cut your yarn fairly close
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Repeat the same thing on the other end
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Huzzah! Finished washcloth!
Alrighty, I’ll be back next week for lots of fun with the Purl stitch!
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Not getting my in-stills? Check out an in-action version instead: I like this binding Off video (although she is knitting using the English method holding her yarn in her right hand, so just watch how to slip the stitches over the other stitches) and this weaving in the ends video. .. .
