Three Needle Cast-Off (Bind-Off)

This technique joins the live stitches of two pieces of knitting to form a sturdy knitted seam. It is wonderful for knitters like me who hate sewing up! I use it for joining the shoulder seams in ‘A Great British Knit’, and for seaming the back heel in my ‘Tess’ slippers.

The method combines k2tog (knit two together) decreases with the basic technique that most knitters learn as their first cast-off. What makes it work for seaming is that the k2tog decreases are formed from stitches on two separate needles. It is these decreases that join the two pieces of knitting together. The cast-off merely secures the stitches.

In the video above I demonstrate the technique using stitches from one row of knitting worked on a circular needle. However, usually the cast-off is worked with stitches from two separate pieces of knitting held on two separate needles.

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