Three-Needle Bind Off (3NBO) Basics // Technique Tuesday

[@BebelovesMacika]

I wish I could give you one more like every time I watch your technic videos again. Thank you for all the clear demonstrations! 👍👍👍👍👍

[@cindyBS72]

White background, light yarn, calm clear voice. No distractions. I love your ways!

[@judithdelrosario5080]

PS, Roxanne I've been knitting for 52 years and I have found new ideas and tips from your tutorials. Thanks so much for your explanations. I find that you are much more clear and concise than other videos on You Tube. Thanks again for all that you do.

[@jennistevenson796]

Thanks so much for this. I think this woman( Roxanne) is a brilliant teacher, she explains things so well and seems to anticipate what someone might not understand and how to tell you correct mistakes. This is so helpful and gives me confidence to tackle knitting projects knowing I can refer to these videos for help. Thank you Roxanne x

[@pegpage8618]

Roxanne - Thank you so much for providing knitting education - I’m continually going back to your technique videos to view new techniques to me, or refreshing techniques I don’t do often. Also - your explanation and video on how to do the technique is beyond great, but even better is your explanations on “why” a technique is done a particular way. I have learned so much here! Thanks again -

[@nancypalmierievans6333]

You are an excellent teacher! Just love your videos.

[@alicegarner7840]

You are a great teacher! So clear

[@Ursaminor31]

I use a chrochet hook as the third needle and it makes pulling through loops and bind off so much easier for my big old man hands

[@robyn3349]

Thank you, Roxanne!

[@janetcooke384]

Back for a refresher! TY again.

[@meganmills6545]

(Roxanne - I know you probably already know this - but perhaps for others...) If you can also crochet then it can sometimes be good to deliberately forget the bind off all the way along. I use a longer dpn or a circular to do it. Afterwards to complete the "bind off" I slide all the sts to the other end of the needle and, using a crochet hook, put the first st on the hook. Then *Use the hook to pull the next st on the needle through the loop already on the hook. Repeat from *. At the end when you have one loop on the hook you're where you would have been if you'd bound off as you went along, so you can pull the tail through to finish. I find it much faster and less fiddly overall and I get a much more consistent "chain-line" for the cast-off. Especially for some of those slubby or textured yarns that are wont to be uncooprative enough already. Bonus observation - whether you do it as you go or with a hook at the end: Just like a crochet chain where you can tighten them all in succession if one chain loop is looser than the rest, you can, if one of your cast-off chains is a bit sloppy, pull the slack up into the next chain loop and so on all the way to the end of the line. (Can be too tedious on anything more than 3 inches or so from the end, depending on your gauge. Tolerable for most shoulder seams in a pinch if you can't fuss with undoing and casting it off again but the chain is on the right side and bugs you that it doesn't match its neighbours!) :-) Watch which side of the next chain you pull on to take up the slack. One tightens the chain behind it, the other tightens the chain in front of it. This can be handy when you want to share just a minor little bit of slack of one chain out with its neighbours on both sides, or lend a bit of yarn from neighbouring chains to one that is a teeny bit too small.

[@allisonbyrd]

Roxanne, I love your teaching style! Your explanations of how to perform a technique are so clear and understandable, and your explanations of *why* and *when* to use the technique are especially appreciated! Thanks for this helpful lesson on the three-needle bind-off. :)

[@theastewart6721]

Great tutorial! Very informative! Thanks for sharing.

[@Katherine-hn1qz]

As a new knitter this was so helpful, thank you so much!!!

[@tattinggirl4341]

Marvelous! I gave up on this bind off over the years. You addressed my problems with it--thank you!

[@TwistedStitchesShow]

Thank you so much, as always an immense help!

[@katiegallant9917]

Thanks for a clear explanation.

[@tattinggirl4341]

I can;t wait to see the follow ups on this bind off! Great !

[@RoxanneRichardson]

I'm working on the first follow-up right now! :-)

[@cathieh.7225]

Just what I wanted. Thank you!

[@BigShelley]

This was perfect timing. The pattern I'm working on just called for a first 3 needle bind off and I've never done one before.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Excellent! Good luck ! :-)

[@FeannaFey]

I haven't done this bindoff often, but I really liked using a crochet hook instead of a third needle.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Interesting. I have a friend who always binds off with a crochet hook in the right hand, regardless of the bind off method. Those hooks are handy! :-)

[@lesliehanna5688]

Ty for this super clear video, I’m subscribed for more great tips!

[@EmeseVida]

that was very useful! Thank you!

[@christinafranconi5281]

You made it so easy thank you

[@joanie1301]

Thank you! Your videos are priceless :)

[@sarahbaud1776]

thanks!! You are a great teachet!!

[@lindarose712]

I appreciate your clear video tutorials. (People rave about the three needle bind off, and I haven’t had a reason to do one yet... (someday when I knit my first pieced sweater…))

[@deborahlee7975]

Thanks - such a clear explanation!

[@judithdelrosario5080]

Roxanne do you have a tutorial on how to join a garter stitch set-in sleeve? I'm baffled. Thanks

[@gracekam6476]

What bind off/seam should I use for shoulder seam of 2 colour brioche so that it's reversible?

[@marciawrightca]

Hi Roxanne. I love the sweater you're wearing. Is this a pattern you can share?

[@lizkaji2750]

Why would one use 3NBO instead of grafting? I'm making the Montrealer which has a hood that is worked in stockinette panels and seamed with a 3 needle bind off. I'm wondering why it isn't grafted with kitchener since there's all live stitches? Is there something obvious that I'm missing? Thanks!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Techniques are often interchangeable and will produce the same end result, or one close to it. 3NBO doesn't require cutting the yarn to execute it (so there's no measuring off the correct amount of tail), it produces a stable, but stretchy result, and it can be easily ripped out, should the need arise. Grafting produces an invisible result, assuming you do it accurately, but it's not easy to take out if you mess up. If there's an edging along the selvedge (say, 3-stitches of garter stitch), you'll have a 1/2 st jog at the transition from garter to stockinette between the two pieces, while the 3NBO matches sts head-to head, so there will be no offset. It's knitter's choice. The designer chose a method they thought was suitable, but you are not obligated to finish it the way the pattern states.

[@lizkaji2750]

@@RoxanneRichardson Thank you so much for offering such a comprehensive answer! I truly appreciate your take on all things knitting and all of the resources that you provide.

[@spazcake1755]

I was going to ask if this could be used for socks where the seam is on top of short row toes instead of at the end of wedge toes but then I thought about it and realized that that is too subjective of a question for the internet and I'm just going to have to mess around and find out myself.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

You have it right: when you know what your choices are, it's up to you to figure out which way you want to go for your own projects. :-)

[@SSSoto17]

I was wondering, in using this technique would it be best to block your knitting before joining shoulder seams with 3NBO or after?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

It's not necessary for the sake of joining the shoulders, but if you were going to wash and block the pieces prior to seaming other pieces to the body, it doesn't hurt to block them first. For example, if you had the front, back and both sleeves knitted, and were ready to join the shoulders and then sew the sleeve into the armhole, you might want to wash and block everything first, in order to flatten out the selvedges and other edges of all the pieces that will be seemed in the standard way. On the other hand, you could join the shoulders, and then wash and block the front and back as one larger piece. It really just depends one what you're going to do next, and what is most convenient for you.

[@derekchristman835]

Thanks for another great video. I was wondering what your opinion would be on choosing this 3 needle bind off over using the kitchener stitch?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

It depends on what the seam/join is for. If it's for a sock, I prefer grafting, because the result has no ridge but some people do a 3NBO because they find it easier and they aren't bothered by seams in the toe. If it's for shoulder seams, I prefer a 3NBO over grafting because the entire weight of the sweater is held up by the shoulders, and the seam provides stability.

[@derekchristman835]

@@RoxanneRichardson Thanks, that makes sense.

[@heather7862]

Would you know right away if you didn’t pull through one of the stitches accidentally?? I just did a three needle bind off for the first time and now I’m wondering if I did that. It was super awkward at first for the first five or so stitches but then I got the hang of it. I was being super careful but now I’m worried I missed a stitch or something.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

If you lay the piece flat and stretch the two pieces of fabric away from the join, you should be able to see if there is a dropped stitch.

[@heather7862]

Roxanne Richardson actually that is exactly what I did! It was kind of hard because it is a fingerless mitt and I didn’t have much to hang on to. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary but I did see a small little gap, however, that was towards the end where I was a lot more confident that I didn’t miss anything. Wouldn’t it unravel though?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

@@heather7862 If you had dropped a stitch, it would unravel. If you have a bit of a gap near the end, you can use the yarn tail to help close that up as you weave in the end.

[@kimberlylow503]

For some reason, I can't get my ribbing to line up! I am working Andrea Mowry's "The Weekender" and the shoulders have K1P1 ribbing and the 3 needle bind off is done so that it is exposed on the outside. My first shoulder went perfectly... the ribs are off on the second! Any help?!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

If the ribs aren't lining up 1:1, that might indicate that you don't have the same type of stitch column at the edge. That is, do you have a RS knit at the selvedge for both pieces (or RS purl)? Are you starting at the shoulder outside edge of the shoulder and working toward the neck?

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

Is it not the same result as Kitchener ?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

No, it is not the same. Grafting (Kitchener) joins two sets of live sts invisibly, first by cutting the yarn to leave a long tail, threading it onto a yarn needle, and then weaving that tail through the sts in a way that matches the path of a knitted row. 3NBO combines the process of joining and binding off into one technique (rather than binding off all the sts first, and then seaming them together).You don't cut the yarn, you don't thread it onto a yarn needle. You can rip it back, just like you can rip back other knitting. Grafting has to be picked out, by pulling the tail out of each stitch, one at a time. The 3NBO leaves a visible join (a ditch on one side of the work and a ridge on the other).

[@KatyMacky]

Thank you lovely lady :-)

[@maryvictor1806]

how to apply on seed stitch

[@RoxanneRichardson]

It's worked exactly the same, regardless of the stitch pattern.

[@saiimal4552]

Very nice mam

[@laurentdumont160]

❤

[@dindolingibadmintonplayer.3177]

☺️☺️👌👌🙏🙏

[@shelshel2260]

Just show the bindoff.....too much explanation