Decorative Crochet Chain Bind Off Technique for Lace Knitting (and knitted version)

For this month’s Pinwheel Flower pattern, a decorative crochet chain bind off completes the project. This type of bind off is frequently seen used for doilies / tablecloths and sometimes for other lace projects such as shawls.

Decorative looped bind off

The crochet bind off in lace knitting is easy to do: A group of 2 or more stitches are secured together with a single crochet (or double crochet for our folks using UK terminology). Then a crochet chain of several stitches is made. Then another group of stitches are crocheted together, followed by some more chain stitches, etc. until the bind off of all stitches has been completed. This results in a decorative looped edge that can be designed to coordinate nicely with the look and feel of the lace knitting pattern.

Also see my article at the HeartStrings FiberArts site for some more discussion and tips about Crochet Bind Off.

This example of working a decorative crochet bind off is from a work-in-progress photo I took while making the Bobble Lace Flowers Triangle Shawl.

Tip: The white thread in the above photo is a lifeline I had placed for insurance purposes because of the fine, slippery silk thread I used for this shawl.

Instructions for knitted version of the crochet chain bind off

As promised earlier this month, I am also going to provide the knitted version of the crochet chain bind off in the Pinwheel Flower pattern. This knitted version of the instructions uses this special abbreviation for a chain stitch in knitting:

ch = sl st from RHN to LHN, k1

* ch 4, k2tog, sl last ch st made over the k2tog st; rep from *

Note: Alternatively for the ch, you can p1 instead of k1. The results are subtly different.  See which you like better.

I myself do find that I can work the crochet version faster. But it’s nice to know the knitted counterpart if you do not have a suitable crochet hook around at the time, or just are adverse to doing crochet at all.