Picot Bind Off

Purple sweater with featuring blue picot cast on on sleeve and blue picot bind off around neckline.

A Picot Bind Off is a sweet way to add a little design detail to a project. This bind off nicely mirrors the look of the Picot Cast On as featured in an earlier tutorial. Both the Picot Cast On and Picot Bind Off are used in the birthday sweaters: One! Two! Three! and Four! Five! Six!

The picots are worked by casting some stitches and then immediately binding them off, before resuming the standard bind off. It’s infinitely customizable as far as the size of the picots and the distance between them.

Step 1:

Bind off being worked with stitches still on left needle and only one stitch on right needle.

Work to the point where you would like to place a picot bump on your bind off edging.

Stitches on left needle, including last stitch worked, which has been slipped back to left needle; no stitches on right needle.

Then slip the remaining stitch from the right needle to the left needle.

Step 2:

Empty right needle inserted between first and second stitch on left needle.

Using the cable cast on method, cast on two stitches as follows: insert the right needle between the first and second stitches on the left needle.

Right needle drawing a stitch through to the front from between first and second stitch on left needle.

Wrap the yarn around the needle as if to knit and pull the loop through to the front (one stitch on your right needle).

All stitches on left needle including stitch that was worked from between first and second stitch and was transferred to left needle.

Slip that newly created stitch onto your left needle. One cable cast on stitch completed.

Step 3:

Empty right needle inserted between first and second stitch on left needle (forming the picot bump).

All stitches on left needle with a gap after the first three stitches which are all part of the picot bump in the making.

Repeat Step 3 to cast on a second stitch.

Step 4:

Two knit stitches on right needle.

Knit those two stitches that you just cast on.

Step 5:

Left needle inserted in second stitch from end of right needle, preparing to pass it over last stitch worked.

Left needle just finishing up binding off a stitch and about to drop the stitch that was passed over another stitch off the end of the needle.

Then pass the first stitch over the second stitch, binding it off.

Step 6:

All picot bump stitches have been bound off and only one stitch remains on right needle, with rest of stitches still to be bound off on left needle.

Knit and bind off one more stitch.

Step 7:

Next you want to knit into the stitch from which the picot bump has emerged.

Right needle with the one remaining picot bump stitch is help high, stretching the stitch it was worked into so it's easier to see it; yellow circle and arrow indicate the stitch.

To find the right stitch, stretch the picot bump up a little from the body of the work. It’s indicated in the above image.

Right needle inserted into stitch at base of picot bump.

Insert your right needle into the front of the stitch.

Two stitches on right needle including stitch just worked into base of picot bump.

Wrap your yarn around the needle and pull the loop through. Two stitches on the right needle.

Step 8:

One stitch on right needle with a neat and tidy picot bump just below needle.

Now pass the previously worked st over the last one you knit to bind off one more stitch. Picot bump completed.

Back neck of purple sweater with contrasting blue completed picot bind off.

Bind off as many sts as you want in the usual manner until you’re ready to place another picot bump.

The picots are placed four sts apart in the birthday sweater patterns, but you may work them closer or further apart. You may also make the picots larger or smaller by altering the number of cast on and bind off stitches when making the picot bump.

Interested in knitting both One! Two! Three! and Four! Five! Six!? Pop both of them in your cart and you’ll automatically receive 50% off the second pattern.