Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The End Is The Beginning

I am frantically trying to do 80 things at once as I prepare to leave for the US next Tuesday. I won't have time to work up the bootie pattern until I get home and unpack. But thanks for all the begging and pleading! It got me motivated.

In the meantime, I thought I would post this cool, extra-stretchy bind-off that I used to finish off the booties.



This neat trick was published in a recent Moonrise newsletter, written by Sandy Terp. If you like lace, I strongly urge you to subscribe. There's always a useful hint in there and sometimes a discount code for needles or yarn.

I've tried all the K2 or P2 together/return to left needle, blah blah techniques, and didn't think they were particularly stretchy. This one, however, is truly excellent.

K1, *then return it to the left needle by nosing the left needle into the front of the st. (sort of the way you would do so for a SSK).

K this st thru the back (you are already in position to do so). Drop the discard loop off the left needle.

Now return the st again in the same way but, this time pull the right needle out just a little bit so you can put it into the back of the next st on the left as well. You are in position to K2 tog thru the back loops.*

Repeat * to *.

As Sandy said, this is also surprisingly fast, once you learn how to do it. She recommends it for doilies as an alternative to the usual crocheted chain bind-off, but it works just peachy on socks and booties.

8 comments:

missalicefaye said...

you are full of useful information today! :) Thanks!

Iris G said...

Wow, that's a really stretchy cuff! Thank you so much for sharing, I'll try it this evening!

MaggieB said...

I love that bindoff, it's the only one I use for "stretchy" needs.

And I've been meaning to say, thanks for your lace yarn spreadsheet-- it has been great in my present shawl design/lace yarn hunt. It is well done, well organized and just the right amount of data. Thank you for putting it together.

Silvia said...

Hi Fleegle
Have a good trip back to US.
I'll be going to Romania soon, for a long summer holiday, but I'll be back on 26th of August.
If you'll still be in UK by then, drop me an email and we'll plan a cup of tea together :).
best wishes,
Silvia (sbutnarasu at yahoo.com)

LittleBerry said...

thanks for the link have bookmarked it.... Hope you have a safe trip back to the US. If you get northwards when you're in the UK drop me a line and we could meet up :)(I live in lancashire) Harry is most welcome too.....

Batty said...

Everybody is knitting baby stuff and I can hear my biological clock ticking away.

Wonderful stretchy cuff!

Anonymous said...

Wow, everyone is inviting you over. If you ever get a little north of Atlanta, US, You can come and visit me. Would love to trade knitting stories. I have a wonderful wife who knits as much as you do. Your blog is the best knitting site I go to. Keep up the good work.

Lacefreak said...

That cuff is a thing of beauty. I will get my sister to see what you have done and I know she wants that pattern for the bootie badly! Have a good trip back to the states!