Binding Off Without Yarn
Michele Lee BernsteinDescription
Most knitters have played the game of yarn chicken at least once. You’re working on a project and you aren’t quite sure if you’re going to have enough yarn to finish and bind off. Sometimes you get lucky and have enough yarn, and sometimes you lose the game of yarn chicken and run out of yarn before the project is complete. If you run out of yarn near the end of the bind off, never fear—Michele Lee Bernstein has a solution for you. In this video, she shows you how to complete a bind off without any additional yarn.
Michele begins by pointing out that this particular bind off is one that she would not often use. It’s great in a pinch when you’ve run out of yarn, or need a firm, tight edge, like for a buttonhole. Because it creates such a tight edge, binding off without yarn isn’t recommended for most projects.
The swatch shown in the video has the several stitches bound off in the conventional manner. Michele then drops the working yarn and continues binding off without yarn.
1. One stitch on right needle.
2. Slip stitch knitwise from left needle to right needle (2 stitches on right needle).
3. Pass first stitch over second stitch (1 stitch remains on right needle).
Michele repeats Steps 2 and 3 until one stitch remains. In order to complete the bind off, she notes that you’ll have to take a length of yarn, run it through the final stitch, and sew it down so that the bind off doesn’t unravel. You can use a leftover yarn tail that you snipped on the project or use a yarn that is similar in weight and color to the project to complete this final step.
Hi, I'm Michele Bernstein with the Knitting Circle. I'm going to show you how to bind off without any extra yarn. I wouldn't advise it for most applications but if you've lost at the game of yarn chicken just before finishing your bind off, this is a game changer. I'll show you how. So here we are binding off and I've found off a few stitches conventionally, so that you have something to compare your other bind off to. And you know the conventional bind off is just knit too, take the first stitch and pass it over and off the needle. So let's pretend that we've lost the game of yarn chicken and you want to do a bind off but you don't have any more yarn. This is what we do. You slip the next stitch as if to knit, and then you take the first stitch and pass it over and off. Take the next stitch, slip it as if to knit take the first stitch, pass it over and off. Slip, take the first stitch over and off. Slip, take the first stitch over and off. And you do that until you come to the end of your bind off. I can already feel it getting a little bit tighter. Slip, take the stitch over and off. So you might do this if you have run out of yarn, or you might use it in a buttonhole say, or somewhere where you want a really firm edge, excuse me, I've gotten a little caught there. Slip over and off. And I want to show you how these look next to each other. Slip over and off. When you get to the end, you're going to need to take another piece of yarn and run it through your stitch. And then, so those two ends down or else your stitch will drop and it will run. And we certainly don't want that. So it's kinda nice looking. It looks just like the bind off over here, except we haven't used any yarn. And here is the conventional bind off and here is the bind off without yarn. You'll notice it's just a bit tighter but in a pinch it'll do. And if you want an extra from edge, it will also do so. So that's the binding off without any extra yarn. I wouldn't use it all the time but sometimes it really helps. It's also great if you're making buttonholes and you want a firm edge. It's your choice because it's your knitting.
Thanks you! I love this idea for buttonholes. But what I really want to know is where I can find the pattern for the sweater you're wearing. 🥰🧶