Tips for Binding Off Loosely

I tend to bind off really tightly. As in, if I’m knitting a scarf the cast on edge will be wider than the bound off edge.

I pretty much do a stretchy bind off (knit two together through the back loops, then put the new stitch back on the left hand needle and repeat across) whenever I bind off these days, unless I need a firm bind off for some reason.

Kate Atherley has the low down on loose bind offs over on the Mason-Dixon Knitting blog, and it’s a post you’ll want to read if you’ve ever been puzzled by a pattern telling you to bind off loosely.

She covers the basic bind off, easy ways to add a bit of stretch and how to get the kind of stretchiness you need for toe-up socks or heavily blocked shawls where you still want the edge to look great.

Do you have a favorite bind off? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Mason-Dixon Knitting.]

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Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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