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tutorial – working a tubular bind off for 1×1 rib

Tutorial - working a tubular bind off for 1x1 rib

The tubular bind-off creates a rounded edge of your knitting project, as well as being very stretchy. This makes it a very good bind-off for edges that are prone to wear and tear. And, of course, where the stretch is useful. Think, for example, of bottom-up socks. That said, this bind-off is very time-consuming to work, very much worth it in my opinion, though!

Of course, there are many ways to work a tubular bind-off. This particular version is for working in k1, p1 rib patterning. It can be used both in the round and for knits worked flat, and is a perfect match for the tubular cast on I did a tutorial about recently.

Materials used

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 142 Tea Rose.

Darning needle: Hiya Hiya Darn It Yarn Needle, or any other tapestry needle, threaded with yarn.

Working a tubular bind-off for 1×1 rib step by step

Before we can start, we have to measure out a length of the working yarn, before breaking it. For this, a length of approx. 3 to 4 times the length of the edge that you want to bind-off is advised. However, if you want to bind-off a long edge like the body of a sweater, this means that the length of yarn can get very unyielding and prone to tangling. So when using a feltable yarn, I highly recommend only measuring out about twice the length needed. When the yarn tail runs out, a new length can be added by first using the braided join, followed by felting the join between your hands. This would have saved me quite aggravation on a recent sweater project!

When you have measured out the length of yarn, break it, and thread it onto the darning needle.

First, make sure you have your work in front of you on the left-hand needle, ready to work.
We’ll be working on binding the stitches off from right to left.
To start, insert the darning needle purl-wise into the first stitch on the needle, and pull the yarn through.
This first stitch is a knit stitch.
Next, hold the darning needle behind the work, insert it between the first 2 stitches on the needle from back to front, then twist it around to insert it knit-wise into the second stitch (purl stitch) on the needle.
Pull the yarn through.
Now move the darning needle back to the front of the work, insert it knit-wise in the first stitch on the needle (a knit stitch) and slip this stitch off the knitting needle.
Don’t pull the yarn through yet!
Still with the darning needle at the front of the work, insert it purl-wise into the second stitch on the needle (a knit stitch), skipping the first (purl) stitch.
Now pull the yarn through.
Next, insert the darning needle purl-wise into the first stitch (the purl stitch that was skipped in the previous step), and slip it off the knitting needle.
Pull the yarn through.
Next, hold the darning needle behind the work, insert it between the first 2 stitches on the needle from back to front, then twist it around to insert it knit-wise into the second stitch (purl stitch) on the needle. This is similar to step 3.
Pull the yarn through.
Repeat steps 4 to 7 until 3 stitches remain on the knitting needle.
In this tutorial I used a swatch with an odd number of stitches. If you have a piece with an even number of stitches, repeat steps 4 to 7 until 2 stitches remain.
To finish the bind-off work steps 4 to 6 once again (in case of an even number of stitches work only step 4 once more), so only 1 stitch remains, then insert the darning needle purl-wise into the last stitch and pull the yarn through.
This is the bind-off result, isn’t it neat?!

When viewed from the side, this is how the bind off edge looks:

Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.

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tutorial – binding off in 1×1 rib

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to work binding off in 1×1 rib patterning. In knitting patterns you may encounter the phrase “to bind off in pattern”, after working (k1, p1) ribbing. For example, after knitting the cuff of a sleeve or the hem of a sweater. The basic premise of it, is that you continue working the knit stitches as knits, and the purl stitches as purls while binding off. The resulting edge to your work seamlessly blends into the stitch pattern. Also, working the bind off itself in rib patterning ensures that it pulls in somewhat, as ribbing tends to do. This way, it won’t flare out, as it may do when working a non-patterned bind off.

Materials used

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 142 Tea Rose.

Knitting needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.

Binding off in 1×1 rib step by step

To start, take the piece of knitting you want to bind-off.
First, we’re going to knit the first stitch on the left-hand needle. To do so, insert the right-hand needle knit wise into the first stitch.
Wrap the yarn around the needle…
… and pull it through the stitch.
To complete knitting the first stitch, slip it off the left-hand needle.
Next, we’re going to purl the new stitch nearest to the tip of the left-hand needle. To do so, insert the right-hand needle purl wise into the first stitch.
Wrap the yarn around the needle…
… and pull it through the stitch.
To complete purling the stitch, slip it off the left-hand needle.
Now insert the tip of the left-hand needle into the second stitch on the right-hand needle….
…., and pass this second stitch over the first one.
You have now bound-off a stitch!
Repeat steps 2-5 plus 10-11, followed by steps 6-9 plus 10-11 until all stitches have been bound-off.
It will look something like this:

That’s how binding off in 1×1 rib is done! And here is a picture of the resulting edge. Pretty, isn’t it?!

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tutorial – working the k-yo-k increase

Double increases aren’t as commonly used as basic single increases. Nevertheless, they absolutely have their place in the knitter’s toolkit. Double increases, especially the ones including yarn overs, are most often found in lace stitch patterns. So if you like knitting lace, double increases are something you’ll want to be familiar with. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to work the increase that consists of working (1 knit, 1 yarn over, 1 knit) all in the same stitch, thus increasing 2 stitches where there was only 1 before. Abbreviated, this increase would be k-yo-k. This double increase is symmetrical and quite decorative, and for this reason also a very good choice to use for the central spine in top-down triangle shawls.

Below you can find how to work this increase step by step, so get your materials and follow along!

Materials

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 155 Vintage pink.

Knitting needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.

Working a k-yo-k step by step

Work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the double increase.
In this case, I want to work the increase in the center stitch of the swatch.
First, work a knit stitch in the first stitch on the left-hand needle.
Don’t let the stitch slide off the needle yet!
Now wrap the working yarn around the right-hand needle for the “yo” part of the increase.
Then work another knit stitch.
To complete the increase, slip the stitch worked off the needle.
The result when a few more increase rows have been worked on the right side of the fabric.
Doesn’t it look pretty?

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tutorial – working a p3tog

Working a p3tog decrease - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

In a previous post, I already showed you how to work the right-leaning double decrease, in which 3 stitches are reduced to one: the one abbreviated with “k3tog”. This stands for “knit 3 stitches together”. It’s a very easy and very common way to reduce the number of stitches in your project and make it narrower. It’s also often used in lace knitting.

But what when your lace also requires decreases to be worked on the wrong side of the fabric? This is where the purled decrease p3tog comes in! This decrease is worked on the wrong side and looks just like a k3tog when the result is viewed on the right side of the fabric. It’s a pretty straight-forward decrease to work; purl 3 stitches together, to decrease the total number of stitches with 2. It is just like making a regular purl stitch, but you work through three stitches instead of one.

Below you can find how to work this decrease step by step, so get your materials and follow along!

Materials

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 155 Vintage pink.

Knitting needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.

Working a p3tog step by step

Work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the decrease.
In this case, I want to work the decrease over the 3 stitches in the middle of the swatch.
Insert the needle
Now insert the needle purl wise through the first 3 stitches on the left-hand needle
Now wrap the working yarn around the right-hand needle….
… and pull the yarn through the 3 stitches…
To complete the decrease, slip the 3 stitches worked off the needle.
The result
When viewed from the right side of the fabric, this decrease looks exactly like the right-leaning k3tog decrease!

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tutorial – working the Icelandic bind-off

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to work the Icelandic bind-off. I must admit, I’m not sure how it came by its name. I do know that it’s a bind-off that gives a very stretchy cord-like edge to your work. For this reason, it’s often advised for binding off long stretches of garter stitch. In this tutorial, however, I made a little swatch in stockinette to show you how to do it.

Materials used

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color Marine.

Needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.

Working the Icelandic bind-off step by step

To start, knit the first stitch on the needle.
Next, slip the stitch just worked from the right-hand needle back to the left-hand needle purl-wise.
The reason for slipping it back, purl-wise, is that we want this stitch to be mounted twisted.
Now insert the right-hand needle as if to purl into the first stitch on the left-hand needle….
… then insert the right-hand needle as if to knit into the next stitch on the needle.
This is how that looks:
Next, wrap your yarn around the needle…
…. and pull it through.
Next, slip both stitches off the needle.
Repeat steps 2-7 until only 1 stitch is left.
To completely finish the bind-off, break the yarn, and pull the end through this last loop.

And that’s all there is to it!

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tutorial – working the bunny ears back decrease

Earlier, I already showed you how to work the bunny ears decrease. In this tutorial, I’m going to show the bunny ears back decrease, which is similar to the bunny ears decrease. It’s also a symmetrical way of decreasing 3 stitches to only 2, called this way, because the result somewhat looks like 2 bunny ears “hugging” the resulting 2 stitches. However, instead of the “ears” pointing outwards, they point inwards.

Part of this decrease is working a left leaning single decrease of your choice. I prefer skp, so that’s what I’ll be showing in this tutorial. But it can be changed to ssk or any other left leaning decrease you prefer.

Materials used

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color Marine.

Needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.

Working the bunny ears back decrease step by step

First, work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the decrease.
See those first 3 stitches on the left-hand needle? That’s where I’ll be making the bunny ears back decrease.
Next, work the left leaning decrease of your preference over the first 2 stitches.
I’ve worked a skp, you can see the result in the picture below.
Now take a good look at the decrease you worked.
Do you see the 2 stitches that were decreased to 1, with the one on the left “covered’ by the other one?
Now insert the left-hand needle underneath the left loop of that lower stitch.
Next, work a k2tog over the first 2 stitches on the left-hand needle as the final step.
Below, you can see the result: 3 stitches that have been symmetrically decreased to 2 stitches.

And that’s all there is to it!

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tutorial – working a tubular CO in the round for 1×1 rib

The tubular cast on creates a rounded edge of your knitting project, as well as being very stretchy. This makes it a very good cast on for edges that are prone to wear and tear. And, of course, where the stretch is useful. Think, for example, of top-down socks, and the start of a bottom-up hat. In this example I’m casting on for a top-down sweater.

Of course, there are many ways to work a tubular cast on. This particular version is for working in the round in k1, p1 rib patterning.

Materials used

Yarn: Shetland Lambswool from De Schapekop, a yarn very similar to Jamieson & Smith 2ply Jumper Weight, and no. 5 crochet thread or other smooth waste yarn.

Needles: KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 2.5 mm (US 1 1/2) and the 3.5 mm (US 4) size. Both with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Other materials: a crochet hook, and a stitch marker.

Working a tubular CO in the round for 1×1 rib step by step

First, using the larger size needles, the smooth waste yarn and the provisional cast on of your choice, cast on half as many stitches as you need according to your pattern.
In other words: if you need 80 stitches, cast on 40. I used the crochet provisional cast on for this step.
Now, using the smaller size needle and the working yarn, work (k1, yo) across all provisionally cast on stitches.
After this row is finished, as shown below, it’s time to join into the round.
The last worked stitch is a yarn over, so make sure it stays intact when joining into the round.
Here I’ve rearranged my stitches to continue knitting in the round, magic loop style.
Before joining, I made sure that my stitches weren’t twisted, and I’ve added the stitch marker to indicate the beginning (and end) of a round. Also, do you see that the yarn over is still there, behind the stitch marker?
In this step, work (knit 1, slip 1 purl wise with the yarn in front) to the end of the round.
In other words: knit every stitch that was knit in the previous round, and slip every yarn over. Below, is how it looks after this round is completed.
Next, work (slip 1 purl wise with the yarn in the back, purl 1) to the end of the round.
In other words: slip every stitch that was knit in the previous round, and purl every stitch that was slipped. This is how it then looks:
In this step, work (knit 1, slip 1 purl wise with the yarn in front) to the end of the round.
In other words: knit every stitch that was slipped in the previous round, and slip every stitch that was purled.
Now we repeat step 6: work (slip 1 purl wise with the yarn in the back, purl 1) to the end of the round.
In other words: slip every stitch that was knit in the previous round, and purl every stitch that was slipped.
In this step, it’s time to unravel the provisional cast on
Starting at the end that you indicated when doing the provisional cast on, undo the knot and gently pull the cast on loose.
This is the cast-on result, ready for further knitting (k1, p1) rib in the round (using magic loop) as described in your pattern!

A comparison

I thought it would be useful to compare the tubular cast on with a regular knitted on cast on one. So, I continued the piece above with another few rounds in (k1, p1) rib until it measured 1.5 cm / 0.6″.

Now take a look at the following picture. The lower neckband has a regular knitted-on cast on, followed by 1×1 rib for 1.5 cm / 0.6″. The one at the top has the tubular cast on in the round with 1×1 rib. Both pieces are worked in the same yarn, and with the same needle size.

I think the neckband with the tubular cast on looks much better, with its rounded edge. It is also much less likely to give issues with wear & tear, because there are no single strands of yarn right at that edge. What do you think?

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tutorial – cabling without a cable needle

Most of my projects are about knitting lace, not cables. The reason? I find that with cabling, my flow is very much interrupted. First by getting the cable needle. Next, by manipulating all three needles I have in my hands at that moment while working the stitches. Followed by laying the cable needle aside again. All of this to repeated multiple times in a row, depending on the patterning, of course.

For complex cables, I see no way around using a cable needle. For the simple twists only involving 2 stitches, it’s another matter, though! Cabling itself is nothing more than working in another order than the one they originally appeared on the knitting needle. So, if we’re talking about simple twists only involving 2 stitches, we can easily change the order around without using a cable needle. And, of course, without having a big risk of dropping a stitch.

In this tutorial I show you how to go about it!

Materials used

Yarn: Wayfaring Yarns Arcadia DK, a 100% extra fine, non-superwash merino in the color Portobello Road.

Needles: Addi Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4.5 mm (US 7) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Cabling without a cable needle step by step

In this example, I’m working on my Mossy Cables shawl that involves various types of cables. The ones that can easily be done without a cable needle, are the following ones:
1/1 LPC – a left cross cable over 2 stitches: Slip next stitch to cable needle and place at front of work, p1, then k1 from cable needle.
1/1 RPC – right cross cable over 2 stitches: Slip next stitch to cable needle and place at back of work, k1, then p1 from cable needle.

To start, we knit to the point where a cable has to be worked.
See those 2 stitches on the left-hand needle? I want to reverse the order of that purl and knit stitch, to make it seem that the column of knit stitches curves outwards from the center cable. To do so, I want the knit stitch to cross in front and to the right of the purl stitch. In other words: I’ll be working a 1/1 RPC or right cross cable.
To start, I grab the work directly below the 2 stitches, as shown in the picture below.
This way, I can remove them from the knitting needle without having the risk of them running down and ruining my work.
Here I’ve removed the 2 stitches from the needle.
Keep squeezing that fabric, we don’t want to drop one of these stitches!
To change the order of the stitches, I first place the stitch on the right (the purl stitch in this case) back on the needle.
While doing so, keep your fingers underneath the other stitch to keep it from running down. Please note that if I was working a left cross cable instead of a right cross cable, I would have held the remaining loose stitch at the back, instead of at the front of the work as pictured.
Now use the working (right-hand) needle to catch the remaining loose stitch from the front and also put it on the left-hand needle.
For a left cross cable, I would have caught the remaining stitch from the back of the work.
Now the order of the stitches has been changed, ready to work!
This is how it then looks in the case of the right cross cable:
For this right cross cable, I have to work 1 k, followed by 1 p.
This is how it looks when done:

And that’s all there is to cabling without a cable needle!

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tutorial – working slip stitch (as edge treatment)

Tutorial on workign slip stitch as an edge treatment

In my previous tutorial, I showed you how I went about fixing my mr Greenjeans cardigan to make it more wearable. As part of the fix, I also worked slip stitching along all outer edges of the cardigan, to tie the new contrasting yarn together better with the original elements of the garment. For this reason, I worked the slip stitch with the right side facing. Doing something similar with the same yarn as used in the rest of the project, could be done to make the edges look a tad neater.

Another application for slip stitching as edge treatment would be to work it on the inside (wrong side facing) of the garment. In particular, along the edge of the back neck, and possibly also the shoulder seam. Doing this with a non-stretchy yarn can help prevent stretching and sagging of these edges, if the garment is prone to that.

So, let’s get started!

Working slip stitch step by step

Insert a crochet hook into the stitch at the edge of the fabric.
On both cast-on and bind-off edge, each stitch looks like a little “V”. Insert the hook underneath both strands of the V.
Wrap the yarn around your hook…
… and pull it through.
You now have 2 loops on your hook.
To finish, pull the loop that is nearest to the tip of your hook through the other loop.
Repeat steps 1-4 until you run out of edge to work!
Note that you may want to work 3 slip stitches in the stitch that sits right at the corner of the fabric, to “turn” that corner.

This is the result when viewed from the right side of the fabric:

Neat, isn’t it? Below, you can see the very same piece of fabric, viewed from the wrong side. The horizontal line of stitches in the contrasting pink is almost invisible.

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tutorial – fixing my mr Greenjeans

This project has quite the backstory, so I’ll get started to get you up to speed. Back in 2011 I bought 2 batts of Texeler wool, each a whopping 200 g. One was cyclamen pink, the other more pink & purple. I spun each of these into singles, and twined them into an (on average) 2-ply DK-weight yarn. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the resulting yarn to show you.

Anyway, I decided to use this yarn to make myself a Mr Greenjeans cardigan, which is a pattern by Amy Swenson, available for free on Knitty. When I started the project, it was just after my youngest was born, and I was still breastfeeding. I expected to lose some weight because of that, so I aimed at a size to end up eventually with a garment with approx. 0 cm / 0″ of ease. Things going as they go, I didn’t finish the project until sometime in 2013. By then I had lost so much baby weight that my mr Greenjeanshad a whopping 14 cm / 5.6” of positive ease! Nevertheless, I put it in my closet and wore it from time to time.

Below you can see how I wore it at the time. I didn’t even make the effort to sew a button on, I just closed it with a shawl pin.

Fast-forward to July 2021: Looking back, I really haven’t worn this garment that much. You see, it turned out to be very warm. So warm, in fact, that I only wore it on the coldest days of the year. That combined with the 3/4th length sleeves made it rather unpractical to wear for me. But, I realized that the pink yarn I bought in Greece a couple of years ago, is a lovely match with this cardigan!

So, long story short, I hatched the plan to fix my mr Greenjeans by undoing the bind-off, work in stockinette until the hand spun is finished and then redo the cuffs with the pink yarn. And I made pictures of what I did!

Fixing my mr Greenjeans step by step

Undoing the bind-off and unraveling the cabled cuffs.
The original yarn tail was, of course, woven in. However, with some smart and careful snipping, I managed to unravel the bind-off and then rip back the knitting to the point where the stockinette stopped.
Re-knitting the hand spun yarn.
I put the stitches on a tiny circular needle, and continued the stockinette section of the sleeve until I couldn’t work another round. And yes, I kept track of the number of rounds to be able to duplicate it for the other sleeve.
No more round possible!
I made a total of 18 extra rounds of stockinette in the hand spun yarn.
The next step consisted of re-knitting the cabled cuff in the somewhat matching pink yarn.
Here I made 29 rounds to arrive at a cozy long sleeve length.
Repeat steps 1 to 4 for the other sleeve!

And this is the result of foxing my mr Greenjeans!

As you can see, I found a button in the very same pink as the contrast yarn, and actually sewed it on. To tie everything together, I also did some slip stitching along all outer edges of the cardigan. In my next tutorial, I’ll show you how to work slip stitches as an edge treatment!

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