by Jeny Staiman

Judy's Magic Cast-On and Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off are real soulmates. I've been using the JSSBO for about two months and each time I finish binding off a pair of socks I am stunned at how springy and stretchy the edge is, and how it snugs right back up when you let go. The bind-off even hinges at the bends of the ribbing, accentuating ribbing's accordion quality. It is a superior, stretchy, springy, and satisfying bind-off.

Cat Bordhi

This bind off combines the classic simple bind off with a yarn wrap. It is thus named because it defies logic that anything so simple would be so elastic. Before you scoff, give it a try. It has a higher elasticity than Elizabeth Zimmermann’s sewn bind off, and has an advantage in that it is not sewn, and therefore easier to execute over a long length of fabric. For optimum elasticity, avoid snugging the stitches tightly after you knit or purl them.

To process a knit stitch:
Yarn-over in reverse
(that is, wrap the opposite direction around the needle from the standard yarnover)...

knit 1...



insert left needle into yo and pull it over the stitch that was just knit.

To process a purl stitch:
Yarn-over (in the usual direction)



purl 1...

insert left needle into yo and pull it over the stitch that was just purled.

To bind off:
Process each of the first 2 stitches.

Pass right stitch over left stitch and off the needle.

Continue, repeating:
[Process next stitch. Pass right stitch over left stitch and off the needle] until only 1 stitch remains.
Cut working yarn and pull through.

Note that once you have processed one stitch, on your next and all remaining stitches you can pass over the yo and the processed stitch together in one step...

The bind-off hinges at the bends of the ribbing.

Jeny Staiman is a mom, a usability engineer, and a self-diagnosed knitting geek. For the past 15 years she has knitted primarily socks, hats, and gloves (i.e., short attention span for knitting in straight lines) and has recently been seduced into the world of knitting moebii and other nonorientable mathematical forms.

You can find her on Ravelry and she blogs here.