Note: I was playing blog chicken by having a post in schedule, but it didn’t have photos in it, and I set it for a Thursday not a Friday. I’m sorry, this really did need photos. I think I have just proved the limits of those particular blogging conveniences for me!
This bind off is a narrow knitted on border, that creates eyelets that nearly match Barbara Abbey’s faggoted Edge. I’ve looked in books and asked around on the internet for a matching bind off, and haven’t find one, so I’m claiming un-venting rights. (By all means set me straight in the comments if someone else was first, but be gentle, polite and charming about it.)
And if by any chance you think of something even closer to the cast-on – let me know so I can rejoice with you (and plug your work).
To bind off:
Row 1: Yo, sl1 purlwise, k1, psso. Turn.
Row 2: Sl1 purlwise, k1, psso. Turn
Repeat rows 1 and 2 across your fabric until all of your stitches to bind off are done. Draw your thread through the last loop. Again, there is a yarn over right at the beginning – but this is possible.
In the illustrations I use a double yarn over when I knit the stitch after the slipped one. That gives a higher hole above the last garter stitches so that it looks a little bit more like the cast on.
The bind off, cast on, and selvages all flair. This would be less of a problem with lace fabric. Also, if the picots are used to join motifs up like hairpin crochet, the tightness of that join uses up the looseness of the other, and the result is springy flatness. The picots allow motifs to be blocked before joining, and stretch a good deal, but then the joining up with crochet hook or knitting needles is fast and easy. Not quite as fast and easy as a crochet join as you go, but faster than sewing.
There will be four posts on this: