How to Handle a Messy Last Stitch When You Bind Off

First off, thank you to everyone who offered suggestions for things they want to learn about knitting that I can help with (if you didn’t see that post last week, you can weigh in here). I’ll be getting to those really soon, but in the meantime I wanted to share this great tip from Patty Lyons via Mason Dixon Knitting.

We all know the pain of having that last stitch of a bind off come out super huge and ugly. I usually do the thing she mentions where you pull the tail through the last stitch, but it doesn’t totally help.

She has lots of great ideas for how to make that last stitch neater, as well as an explanation for why that stitch comes out so funky in the first place.

I often do a knit two together through the back loop bind off, which is one of the methods she suggests for making that last stitch a little tighter. I like it for other reasons, too, but it does make the finish a little better.

Have you ever tried any of these methods or something else to prevent that ugly last stitch? I’d love to hear about it.

[Photo: Patty Lyons via Mason Dixon Knitting.]

Next Pattern:

I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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