The End Is The Beginning

I am frantically trying to do 80 things at once as I prepare to leave for the US next Tuesday. I won't have time to work up the bootie pattern until I get home and unpack. But thanks for all the begging and pleading! It got me motivated.

In the meantime, I thought I would post this cool, extra-stretchy bind-off that I used to finish off the booties.



This neat trick was published in a recent Moonrise newsletter, written by Sandy Terp. If you like lace, I strongly urge you to subscribe. There's always a useful hint in there and sometimes a discount code for needles or yarn.

I've tried all the K2 or P2 together/return to left needle, blah blah techniques, and didn't think they were particularly stretchy. This one, however, is truly excellent.

K1, *then return it to the left needle by nosing the left needle into the front of the st. (sort of the way you would do so for a SSK).

K this st thru the back (you are already in position to do so). Drop the discard loop off the left needle.

Now return the st again in the same way but, this time pull the right needle out just a little bit so you can put it into the back of the next st on the left as well. You are in position to K2 tog thru the back loops.*

Repeat * to *.

As Sandy said, this is also surprisingly fast, once you learn how to do it. She recommends it for doilies as an alternative to the usual crocheted chain bind-off, but it works just peachy on socks and booties.