I got some great tips from this You Tube video by erlbachergearhart: Simple & Full Fashioned Purl Bind Off
I thought this purl bind off would make a great improvement for my time consuming and tediously finicky Fingerless Gloves.
So this post is actually a Tutorial Addendum to my previous tutorials on fingerless gloves to be found here:
This finishing method will use the Simple Purl Stitch Bind Off as an alternative to finishing the thumb and open finger area with scrap yarn and hand stitching a finished edge and removing the scrap. The only hand finishing that remains to be done in this method is closing the sides of the thumb with a blanket stitch. For me, this is a huge time saver and uses a fraction of the scrap yarn (casting on only).
I adapted a wee bit from the video for the thumb but the concepts are all the same.
I’m going to split this tutorial up into several sections to ease the pain of my big files on those with slower speed internet service. (I know your pain!)
To begin, I’ve knit the beginning of the glove and I am just finished knitting the thumb flap. (I am working with Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport yarn, 100% wool, colour Jeans).
This photo is taken from the right side. So the yarn carrier is at 12 o’clock. The thumb flap is on the left of the photo, knit on 22 needles, finishing with a clockwise row.
Small difference from earlier method – I knit 29 row thumb flap instead of 28 so that my yarn would finish on the left side. The purl cast off can be done in either direction, but I want to work in my ‘normal’ direction of cranking – counter clockwise so this is how I go about it.
The non-thumb needles were already raised out of work while I knit the thumb flap. Now, to prepare for the purl cast off I:
- Raise all the thumb needles as well. (Leaving all main and thumb weights in place.)
- Remove the yarn from the yarn carrier BUT leave it in the take-up spring.
- Don’t cut the yarn!
You can see my working yarn is just to the left of the final thumb needle. (This row was knit clockwise.)
Coming Next: the all important first stitch!