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This is a perfect bind-off for toe-up socks where you don’t want to do ribbing, because it’s stretchy and sturdy and the edge doesn’t roll.
I really recommend that you try this technique. It’s a beautiful bind-off and you’re going to be very proud of yourself once you finish it.
Invisible Ribbed Bind-Off for 1×1 RibPremium Video
If you already know Kitchener Stitch, you’ll have a good foundation for this bind-off. However, it’s not a prerequisite.
Speaking of which, there are no prerequisites in this course – you can jump in wherever you want as long as you can knit and purl and you have an adventurous attitude.
The main thing to keep in mind as you learn the Invisible Ribbed Bind-Off is to take a deep breath, go slow, and KNOW you can do it.
Don’t expect yourself to memorize all the moves right away. It will help you to think of the bind-off as consisting of only 2 basic movements.
Make a swatch of at least 30 stitches so that you can really practice this. As you go, repeat the mantra “knit-off purl, purl-off knit,” “knit-off purl, purl-off knit” in your head as you do these movements, and you will never forget what to do.
Warning: If you’re using a delicate yarn like any single-ply yarn like Noro (which has a tendency to break anyway) or even Malabrigo Worsted, be careful on this bind-off. Don’t work very many stitches before you pull your yarn tight or it might break. Just do one move and then tighten your yarn, and you’ll avoid that problem.
This bind-off, like all sewn bind-offs, is painstaking to undo. If you need to undo this bind-off, just backtrack slowly and check to make sure it looks right as you go.
This is a pretty advanced bind-off so pat yourself on the back if you give it a try — whether or not you succeed at first. Well done!
Download an illustrated guide to the Invisible Ribbed Bind-Off here.
Make sure you watch your tension on this bind-off. Give the bound-off edge a tug every so often as you go to get a feel for how you are doing.
The nice thing about this bind-off is that you can “make up for” bad tension – if you do a few stitches too tight, you can do the next few a little loose, and things will sort of even out.
Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off (JSSBO) for 2×2 RibPremium Video
The first bind-off I adapted for 2×2 rib was Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off. As predicted for this versatile bind-off, it worked great.
Because it is derived from Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off for 1×1 Rib, if you’ve already learned that bind-off, this one should be really easy. You just repeat each move for either the knit stitch or the purl stitch one more time in order to do two knit stitches and two purl stitches.
This means that, by extrapolation, you can also do this bind-off for 1×3 rib, or 3×1 rib, or any combination of knit-and-purl ribbing.
Based on: Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off for 1×1 Rib.
Jeny’s Surprisingly-Stretchy Bind-Off (JSSBO) for 1×1 RibFree Video
Jeny’s Surprisingly-Stretchy Bind-Off (JSSBO) for 1×1 Rib
Lots of patterns suggest that you use this bind-off, and I agree. I would consider this bind-off “required reading” for intermediate-level knitters.
JSSBO would work well for the ribbing at the bottom of a top-down sweater or at the brim of a top-down hat — anywhere you want the bind-off to not look stretched-out.
This bind-off is also a great choice for binding off lace projects.
This bind-off was invented by Jeny Staiman and published in Knitty in Fall 2009.
Kitchener Double-Rib Bind-OffPremium Video
The trick to this bind off (and it’s only a little scary) is to take the stitches off the needle and slide them onto two needles – one needle into the knits (which will naturally come forward) and one needle into the purls (which naturally recede).
Then all that remains is to bind off the stitches with Kitchener Stitch (which I show you in this tutorial as well as in its own place in this course).
Take it from me that this technique is about 100 times easier than the Invisible Ribbed Bind-Off for 2×2 Rib.
