Well, actually bind off...

Last time we got through the very basics of Bump Theory and looked closely at the reality of the knit and purl stitches. Bet you didn't know that there's a bit of Bump Theory in your cast on and bind off too!

As I've mentioned before, if you're not sure you know what these two actions are or if you're doing them correctly there are many sites out there to show you how. I don't re-invent the wheel; therefore, I've kindly linked to the sources that I've encountered that are free and pretty good. You'll find those links here.

Let's start where everyone has to start: cast on. Now, I cannot account for every way there is to cast on because I don't know all of them. I learned the long tail cast on, the first cast on I teach is the knitted cast on, I know lots of veteran knitters who are very committed to the cable cast on. There are more, and I'm sure one will break the general rule I'm going to set out. Here it is: Casting on is a pseudo-row. When you go to start your first row of knitting you will find purl bumps facing you.

What does this mean? It means that if you're after garter stitch uninterrupted, then you're be knitting every row. (Remember in garter stitch the side the bumps appear on changes with every row. With your cast on edge you've got a row of bumps facing you, which means the next set of bumps need to move away from you to the back.) And if you want to make uninterrupted stockinette stitch you would start with a purl row.

Got that? Good! Because binding off is completely different. Let's think about what our hands are actually doing. Generally speaking, you bind off in pattern, that is, you continue in the same pattern that was established before you started to bind off. Let's say we're knitting (and therefore binding off) in stockinette stitch. And let's say that we're ready to bind off and the coming row would be a purl row, with bumps facing us. We purl one stitch onto the right-hand needle, then a second. With our needle or a finger if it's easier, we pick up the very first stitch and pull it over the second and drop it off the right needle. We do this over and over until we have one stitch left or the pattern tells us to stop. We cut the yarn and thread the cut end through the remaining loop. All good? Knit yourself a swatch if words aren't doing it for you.

Explaining how Bump Theory is involved in binding off is a little tricky because you're actually doing two things at once. You're knitting a final row as well as chaining the remaining loops so that they don't unravel. These two steps interrupt each other. You knit two stitches of the row, and chain them so they don't unravel, etc. It is because you're actually creating a row while binding off that Bump Theory really comes into play. You need to be aware of your pattern (or how those bumps go) so that your last row doesn't turn out funky.