binding off

[bebedechocolate]

I am having trouble with binding off. After leapfroging the second stitch over the first, my yarn is pulled too tightly to be able to leapfrog anything else. How can I make it looser?

[ittybittypretty]

First of all make sure you are binding off correctly, and view this video:

http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/casting-off

If you are doing it correctly, and your bind off is too tight, then sometimes it helps to go up a needle size or two when binding off.

Hope that helps.

[bebedechocolate]

I went up to a larger needle and fixed what I was doing wrong. I had watched the video and for some reason I though I was supposed to end up with a row of stitches on my right needle instead of just the two. I think i figured it out, I was able to bind off my little square. YAY!

[ittybittypretty]

Just a side note on binding off, and a mistake I made as a beginner. I thought binding off meant that you knittwo stitches then pass the first over the second. In reality binding off, is part where you pass the first stitch over the second. Because in every book and video they are always binding off on the right side of stockinette stitch, and they tell you to knit the first two stitches.

So for instance if you are binding off when you've done ribbing (which you will eventually do since SOCKS, often have ribbing) Then to bind off in pattern (ie 1x1 rib), you would knit one, purl one then pass the stitch over, then knit one then pass the stitch over, then purl one and pass over...etc.

Anyway, the first time I had ribbing , I knit across the whole row as I bound off, and it looked really funny!