Binding off some stitches in the middle of a row

Hi Everyone - I’m a new knitter and I have a question. I’m trying to knit my dog a sweater and I’m at a point where it says to knit 10 and then bind off 9 in the middle of the row, knit 63 more and then bind off 9 again, and then knit 10. How do I bind off in the middle of a row? Do I cut the yearn like I do when I bind off at the end of a project, or what? I’m stumped! HELP! I think I have to start over because I did it wrong.

Thanks, Claudette

Just bind off normally. Your working yarn goes with you so it works fine. When you turn the work you will be doing something else at the point of the bind off. Usually that means casting on the same number of stitches, but it depends on your pattern.

This is one way of making a button hole btw. :wink:

Binding off in the middle of a row isn’t so bad once you get the hang of it. You don’t need to cut the yarn like you do at the end because there are probably more rows coming up after this one, right? A bind off doesn’t automatically mean you’re finished; usually when you bind off in the middle of the row you’re creating a hole of some sort.

So first, knit your ten stitches.

Then, to bind off, knit one more stitch and pass the second stitch on your right hand needle up and over the stitch you just knitted (see the basic knit bind-off video if you can’t visualize this). One stitch bound off!

Then knit another, and again pass the second stitch on the right hand needle over it. Repeat until you have bound off nine stitches. Then, just continue knitting as though you haven’t bound off. And then repeat the above steps when you come to the next part where you need to bind off. And then keep going with whatever the pattern tells you to do!

I hope this is helpful. Good luck, and I hope that your dog enjoys his sweater, knitted with love!

Rebecca

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Miss Moosey directions are very good. One point…if when it says K10 and bind off 9, they mean for you to end up with 10 stitches before the bind off, you will need to knit the 10 and then knit 2 more before you do the first lift over. If you only knit one you will end up with only 9 in that first section. I always think of it as knit as many as they say and then begin the bind off as you would any bind off, by knitting 2. This may or may not be important in your situation.

Good point merigold, I was going to write the same thing. If there’s shapin in further rows, you would definitely need 10 sts before the BO hole, not 9.

Hi,

I found this thread because I was searching for a clue as to how to interpret the egg cosy sweater pattern on www.agoodyarn.net (http://www.agoodyarn.net/PT_Cosy.htm). I’m working my way up to a sweater, and thought I’d try the mini one to get some basic skills down. So far, I’ve only knitted a few scarves and one hat.

Anyway, the pattern is as follows:

Cast on 20 sts. Work in K1P1 rib for 2 rows. Continue in stockinette stitch (knit 1 row, purl 1 row) for 18 rows.
Next row (21 rs) work 8 sts.
Bind off center 4 sts, work remaining 8 sts, row 22 purl
Row 23 - Dec 1st each neck edge
Row 24 - purl
Row 25 - Dec 1 st each neck edge
26 - purl

So, I’ve successfully cast off the center 4 sts, and finished up the rest of the row, and I’m at row 22. So, how do I successfully do a “row 22 purl”? In other words, what do I do when I get to the bound off spot? I presume that I will end up with a little mini neck hole in the little mini sweater, but I’m not sure how to proceed.

Has anyone done this pattern before?

I appreciate any help, and I apologize if I should have started a new thread.

Thanks!

John.

I think you may need two ends of yarn to work each side of the `neckline’. Purl to the bound off sts, used another end to purl across the rest of the row.

Yikes! This is starting to sound…tricky.

Since I only have one end to work with now, I guess this implies cutting a separate length to work with? But then, does that mean I need an extra needle, too, since each piece of yarn will need to be worked separately? And how would I add in the new yarn?

Hmmm… tricky, indeed…

I appreciate the advice, suzeeq! :slight_smile: I’m just not sure how to follow it…

Does anyone know of a mini sweater pattern that uses only basic techniques? When I looked at the egg cosy pattern, it seemed so simple… until I got to row 22!

Thanks,
John.

No, don’t cut because you’ll need that yarn to work on that side of the BO. Take the other end of the ball/skein and use it; just leave a tail and start using it. Leave the sts on the needle because you work the whole row across - it’s just split in 2 sides. So for row 22, purl to the BO, drop that yarn, pick up new yarn and purl the rest of the `row’. Turn and knit across doing the dec, drop that yarn, pick up the other yarn, dec and knit the rest of the sts. Repeat.

Thanks, suzeeq,

I think I see what you mean. I’m gonna take a deep breath and give it a try! Should be interesting…

grin

John.

This was exactly what I was struggling with! Your perfect and clear explanation helped me so much!!! Thank you :heart: