Void Cat Design logo, showing a black cat with yellow eyes, a neat shirt collar and some buttons.

YES, YOU CAN KNIT.
CASTING OFF

Once you have the total number of rows required for your piece, it is time to bind off or cast off.

I will be using both terms ‘binding off’ (mostly used in American patterns) and 'casting off' (mostly used in English/British patterns).

Cast on is abbreviated as ‘c/o’ in patterns. You can see that for casting off you’d use the same abbreviation. Therefore, binding offcan be clearer: 'b/o'.

Do keep in mind that this is a personal choice of the designer, so you will come across ‘c/o’ for casting off, too.

Hands holding pink knitting needles with dark blue yarn partially knitted.

Now put the left needle through the FIRST stitch on the right needle, as pictured.

As you can see, the left needle goes through the stitch AGAINST the direction of the right needle. To be honest, you don’t have to do it this way. You can put the left needle through the first stitch going with the direction of the right needle. I just find it easier to pick that first stitch up using this direction.

Hands holding pink knitting needles with dark yarn, slipping a stitch over another stitch.
Two hands holding pink knitting needles with dark yarn in progress of slipping a stitch over another.

Step 3

This first stitch has to go over the second stitch and off the right needle.

 

Now, slip that stitch off the left needle.

Step 4

You now have one stitch on the right needle and the remaining stitches on the left.

Knit another stitch and then repeat the steps of pulling the first stitch on the right (the one closest to your hand) over the other one, as described above.

 

Ultimately, you will end up with only one stitch on the right needle. You can now cut off the yarn, leaving a tail long enough to work away, and pull that tail through that last stitch. You’re done!

A pair of hands holding pink knitting needles and dark blue yarn, showing the end result of slipping one stitch over another.

Step 1

You start by knitting two stitches normally.

This leaves you with two new stitches on the right-hand needle.

Casting off, how does that work?

At this point I would love to see what you’ve made. Don’t be ashamed of it, however it looks. The fact that you have knitted something is a huge step forward.

Join the group on Facebook and share your work. It’s a private group, so only other members can see what you’ve done. If that is too daunting, you can even post anonymously. Or, email your work to me: help@voidcatdesigns.co.uk.

This is the email address you can use for any questions as well.

 

I think it’s great you are learning to knit. Shall we take the next step?

Conclusion

Void Cat Design Logo showing a black cat with yellow eyes, wearing a neat white shirt collar and some buttons

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