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.]

I rarely understand why something becomes a trend in crafting. Gnomes and geese are both cute I guess, but I never thought we’d be making them for all seasons. (See, for example, this collection of gnome knitting patterns, or these knit geese.)

Another one I don’t totally understand is sardines or little fish more generally. Sure, they’re cute, and the shape is fun, but I had no idea when I was sharing this pattern for a fish-shaped pouch last year that it would become a hugely popular pattern that people are still searching for on the site. It is pretty cute, though, so if you weren’t around then or don’t remember you should got check it out.

Recently another fishy knitting pattern crossed my monitor: the little knit fish from Classical Songbird Designs.

Just as the name suggests, these fish are little, about 4.5 inches or 11 cm from end to end. They look like little sardines and take about 12 yards of sock yarn to make.

You can even make a two-tone fish and use just 6 yards of each color.

This sounds to me like just about the perfect use for the yarn that’s left over after knitting a pair of socks, or a mini skein or several that have been sitting around unused in your stash.

The fish are knit flat in one piece, which makes it easy to stitch on the eyes with more yarn or embroidery floss before stuffing, and you can stitch up the sides while you stuff (though it’s not a very big piece so you could probably stitch and then stuff, finishing with the end of the tail).

Because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one wondering, I measured an Altoids box and as the pattern is written the fish are a little too big to fit in it (the box is about 4 inches/10 cm long). But you could make the fish a little smaller if you want to make a box of them. Or just make a fishy bag to put them in!

You can grab the free pattern for the little knit fish at Classical Songbird Designs.

[Photo: Classical Songbird Designs.]

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