I remember encountering the instructions to bind off purlwise when I was a new knitter. I was a bit taken by surprise because in that stage of my knitting journey, I had no idea that there was more than one way to bind off!
In fact, there are many, many ways to bind off. Each one has unique properties that make it appropriate for some projects but not others.
I still use the standard bind off more than any other one. The purlwise bind off is a slight variation of the standard bind off.
Patterns often tell you to bind off purlwise when you need to bind off on a wrong side row of a stockinette project, or when binding off ribbing.
When you bind off the knit stitches knitwise and the purl stitches purlwise on a ribbed project, the bind off is usually a little stretchier. (For other bind offs that work well for ribbing, check out my Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off and Tubular Bind Off tutorials.)
Binding off purlwise is very similar to a standard bind off except you purl the stitches rather than knit them. In this video, I teach you this technique in the Continental style and English style of knitting:
This is what the purlwise bind off looks like on the purl side of your work. The bind off is almost invisible.
This is what the purlwise bind off looks like on the knit side of your work. You can see the difference between the 3 edge stitches that I bound off knitwise and the center purlwise bind off.
Now that you’ve learned how to bind off purlwise…
…are you ready to take your knitting skills to the next level?
I created this tutorial as part of the Flow Knit Along, one of the many projects in the Knit Along Club. It’s a very small sample of the detailed lessons in the Flow Knit Along.
Each knit along includes online lessons to guide you step-by-step through the pattern. The lessons include written, photo, and video tutorials to help you improve your skills while confidently completing each project. Check out our Flow knit along at https://knitalongclub.com/course/flow/.
