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Learn how to bind off stitches in the round neatly without a jog.

When it’s time to finish your knitting project and take it off the needles you will bind off your knitting. A bind-off secures the live stitches along the edge of your knitting and keeps them from unraveling.

Don’t get confused, if the pattern instructs you to cast off stitches, instead of bind off. It is the same thing, and the only difference is in the terminology. In American English, it is called bind off, in British English – cast off.

There are many bind-off methods for you to choose from. Some stretch more than others, some are more decorative. Choose the one that suits your project best.

One of the most common bind-off methods is the basic bind-off. The basic bind-off in the round doesn’t really differ from the regular bind-off when knitting back and forth. You will be repeating the same steps, but if you simply bind off the last stitch in the round, cut the yarn, and pull the tail through that last stitch, you will end up with a more or less visible jog. This will make your project look sloppy. 

This method creates an additional stitch that connects the first and the last bound-off stitches seamlessly.

You will find the photo tutorial for the basic bind-off in the round below.

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TUTORIAL: HOW TO BIND OFF KNITTING IN THE ROUND NEATLY

First of all, you will bind off all stitches the same way you would do it when knitting flat.

Here is a detailed tutorial: How to bind off stitches.

When you have one stitch left on your needle, cut the yarn, leaving a 4 or 5 inches long tail.

Now pull the last stitch out.

Step 1: Thread the yarn tail through a tapestry needle.

Step 2: Detect the first bound-off stitch and insert the needle from front to back under both legs of the first stitch. Pull the needle through.

Step 3: Insert the needle down into the center of the last bound-off stitch. Pull the needle through to the back of your knitting.

Now all you have to do is to weave in the yarn tail.

I hope you found this basic bind-off in the round tutorial useful. Be sure to check out my other knitting tutorials!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links and I may make a small commission on items purchased through links in this post at no extra cost to you. You can find out more in my Disclaimer.

Learn how to finish your knitting with the basic bind-off.

Once your knitting project is finished, you will need to close all the live stitches, so you can take your knitting off the needles. This process is called binding off (in the US) or casting off (in the UK). The terms may differ, but the meaning behind them is the same.

In patterns, bind-off is commonly abbreviated as BO.

There are several ways to bind off the knitting. Some are more elastic than others, some are decorative. You will choose the one, that suits your project best.

The basic bind-off is the most common bind-off method, it is fast and easy to knit. This method creates a firm and neat edge. This bind-off is not too elastic, so you might want to choose a different technique if you need the edge to be stretchy.

You don’t want to bind off too tight, or the edge will be narrower than the knitted item. To fix this you can try to make each stitch a bit looser than it should be. If that’s not working use a bigger needle size.

You will find the photo tutorial for the basic bind-off below.

You might also want to check out how to bind off knitting in the round neatly.

PIN this for later!

TUTORIAL: HOW TO BIND OFF YOUR KNITTING

Typically, you want to bind off in pattern. Meaning, that you will knit over the knit stitches and purl over the purl stitches.

For this example, I am using a swatch that is knit in stockinette stitch. All the stitches are knit stitches, so I’m going to knit all stitches. If there were purl stitches in the previous row, I’d purl over those stitches.

Let’s begin!

Step 1: Knit the first 2 stitches.

There are 2 stitches on your right-hand needle.

Step 2: Insert the left-hand needle into the first stitch on the right-hand needle and pull this stitch over the second one. 

There is one stitch left on your right-hand needle.

Step 3: Knit the next stitch on your left-hand needle.

There are 2 stitches on your right-hand needle again.

Step 4: Insert the left-hand needle into the first stitch on the right-hand needle and pull this stitch over the second one. 

There is one stitch left on your right-hand needle.

Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have 1 stitch left on your right-hand needle. You will see a neat chain of V’s forming along the top edge of your knitting.

Cut the yarn, leaving a 4 or 5 inches long tail. Pull the tail through the last stitch and gently tug to secure it.

I hope you found this basic bind-off tutorial useful. Be sure to check out other knitting tutorials!