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[music]
Never assume you know all of the bind offs in the world!
i just learned a new one myself.
it's the Russian Bind-Off, and this video was a suggestion from Mary.
and when she suggested it, i researched it, i learned the stitch, and i really like it
and i'm excited to show it to you.
this is a stretchy bind off.
in fact, it's so stretchy that i don't recommend it for a flat piece, like knitting a scarf.
because it will actually be wider than the knitting that you do.
in the samples that i knit, that's what i discovered.
if you are knitting something in the round, and you need something stretchy, like for,
umm, like you're knitting a hat, top down.
and you want to bind off the cuff of a hat, this would work well for that.
i haven't tried it on socks.
you need a lot of stretch in socks, it's probably stretchy enough, i need to test that out.
i'll get back to you on that.
but really good for sleeve cuffs, necklines of sweaters, bottoms of sweaters.
the most comparable cast on to this would be the german twisted cast on.
if you want something to be similar at both ends, like a cowl.
something like that, knit in the round.
let's go ahead and take a look at the stitch.
okay, this is a regular old bind off, just for comparison.
you see that it matches up perfectly with the rest of the knitting.
it's a series of Vs running across.
i have obviously done the bind off in a different color so you can see it.
this is the russian bind off.
very different looking, it's decorative.
and it is stretchy.
this is a stiff bind off, right? regular bind off is pretty stiff.
this is stretchy.
and you see, the way this is really square, the bind off is really square with the work.
this bind off actually expanded the fabric up here.
so it's no longer square.
i could have blocked this out, i suppose, to have a bit of a wider gauge, because i
used wool.
but it's, uh, that's how this bind off is.
a little bit more yarn in each stitch expands it out like this.
and you'll see, there is this vertical line running through.
it actually looks pretty cool.
and here is the wrong side.
it looks almost like Tunisian crochet bind off on this side.
all i can think of.
you have lines running this way.
i encourage you to give it a try and think about projects where you might use it!
now, this bind off can also be worked "in pattern".
and i did it on this, because this is knit in seed stitch.
so i did a knit one, purl one, knit one, purl one russian bind off.
which gives you - i don't know where these little fuzzes are coming from! [laughs]
it gives you the vertical line, horzontal line, vertical line, horizontal line.
it didn't really make that much difference to bind off in pattern.
it gave me something that is kind of a different look, it's maybe a little bit stretchier.
let's see.
yeah.
it maybe wasn't worth the work to do this, i actually like the look of regular knit stitch
russian bind off.
but i can see some patterns where it might look cool in different yarns, so it's maybe
worth a try.
worst thing that can happen is you maybe have to rip out a few stitches.
okay, to work the russian bind off, i have this little bit of seed stitch here.
i'm going to start by knitting two.
and the written instructions for this will be in the video description below, as well
as on my website.
so i knit these two stitches.
i'm going to slide these two stitches back over to the left needle.
like this.
and then i'm going to knit those two stitches together.
so essentially what i've just done is i've just twisted those two stitches.
i twisted them together, and then slipped them back over to the left needle.
and now i'm going to knit one.
and now i slip those two stitches back over to the left needle.
knit the two together.
and knit one.
this is the pattern.
slip those two stitches back over to the left needle.
knit two together.
and knit one.
okay.
to work this in pattern, instead of working a knit one stitch every time, i'll see what
the next stitch coming up is.
this is seed stitch, my next stitch is a purl.
so instead of the knit one, i'll yarn forward and purl one.
that's the only difference.
slip those stitches back over.
knit two together.
and my next stitch is a knit one.
slip those back over.
knit two together.
and my next, excuse me, my next is a purl one.
and there is the finished example of the russian bind off.
in the same color that i knit wtih.
and that's it! many thanks to mary for the video suggestion.
good luck.
[whooshing sounds]
[music]
Now we do Russian Bind-off.