There are multiple ways of binding off your work once you have completed your double knitted project and you may feel a little overwhelmeds with the variety of choice that you have.
One of the easiest methods I have used creates a lovely alternating pattern on the bind off edge and is very similar to a regular bind off. If you are new to knitting and want to find out how to do a simple bind off first then please watch the “How Do I Bind Off?” video in my article Learn How To Knit.
The Simple Double Knitting Bind Off
So you’ve got through to the end of your project in one piece and you’re now ready to take that cracking piece of work off the needles and get it into the world. But how do actually do that when working with two strands of yarn and potentially a pattern that you’ve been working with? Carry on reading to find out.
This simple alternating bind off works very well in conjunction with an alternating cast on as the two edges will reflect nicely.
The Set Up Stage
The first thing you want to do – if your pattern doesn’t already incorporate this – is make sure that you end your piece with two rows of stockinette to create a nice edge in which to work from. This is the easiest way to ensure that you will not be distracted by any patterns on either side of your project and you knit and purl with the respective colors when binding off.
It is possible to bind off in pattern but that is more complex than what we want to deal with here. If you feel confident that you will be able to keep track of which strand you will need to bind off in pattern then that’s great and you should go ahead and do that to give your pattern the finished look you desire.
The second step in this stage is to do your first two stitches as you have been. In the photo you can see that I have done my knit and purl as normal and have paused before I actually start the bind off process.
The Bind Off Process
Now that you have done your set up rows and stitches you’ll now begin the process of binding each stitch off the needles.
1. From your first set up stitch (in this case the white stitch in the photo) insert your left needle into the front loop of the stitch and pull it over the second stitch (black stitch in the photo). Then do your normal knit stitch (my next white stitch).
2. For your next stitch you’ll need to bring both yarns to the front of your work as normal and purl the stitch in the normal way.
3. Binding off after having done a purl stitch requires a change to your yarn positioning. Usually you would put both yarns to the back of your work however to get the nice symmetrical bind off you will only move the back yarn to the back. In the photo you can see that I have been working on the “white” side so I will keep the white yarn to the front and put the black yarn to the back before binding off.
4. Repeat the last three steps (of course remembering to do your knit stitch at the beginning) until you reach the end of your work. Your bind off will begin to look like the photo with an alternating color scheme and you will get have a lovely horizontal edge too (see first photo).
5. The final step for binding off is to pull the cut yarn through the final stitch to secure it and then weave in your ends.
Finishing Off
So now you’ll have your work finally off the needles and you have a bind off the catches your cast on and now no one can tell the difference between each end which is especially good for scarves and things like dish scrubbies. I love this simple bind off for scarves especially as it ends up being a very stretchy bind off and it doesn’t pucker the fabric at the end of the scarf.