V-Neck Tubular Bind Off: A Ready-Made Finish With a Sewing Needle
A V-neck bound off with a sewing needle instead of a knitting needle gives that rolled, stretchy edge you see on ready-made sweaters. Here's the prep and the four steps to repeat.
A normal bind off on a ribbed neckline leaves a hard chain along the edge that doesn't stretch much. The tubular bind off is worked with a sewing (tapestry) needle instead, and it gives the neckline a soft, rounded edge that stretches over the head and looks exactly like a ready-made sweater. In this video I show it on the V-neck of a sweater for an 8–10 year old.
Before you start
To save time, I'd already knitted the neckband before filming. Around the V-neck I picked up 36 stitches across the back and 50 stitches down each side of the V, and knitted 8 rounds of 1x1 rib (knit one, purl one). Work the centre V decrease the way you normally would on every round, so the V keeps its shape.
Step 1: Three prep rounds
These rounds separate the knit stitches from the purl stitches so the edge becomes a little double-layered tube. Keep working the V decrease at the centre point as you go.
- Round 1:
Knit the knit stitches. Bring the yarn to the front and slip the purl stitches without knitting them, then take the yarn back again.
- Round 2:
Slip the knit stitches without knitting (yarn at the back), bring the yarn forward and purl the purl stitches.
- Round 3:
Repeat round 1: knit the knits, slip the purls.
Step 2: Measure the yarn
Wrap the yarn around the neckline four times to measure it. That's how much you need: four times the circumference. Cut it there and thread it onto a sewing needle.
Step 3: Set up the first two stitches
- First (knit) stitch: insert the sewing needle purlwise, as if to purl, and pull the yarn through. Leave the stitch on the knitting needle.
- Next (purl) stitch: take the sewing needle behind the knit stitch and into the purl stitch knitwise, as if to knit, and pull the yarn through. Leave it on the needle.
Step 4: The four steps to repeat
Every stitch gets the yarn passed through it twice, once each way. After the second pass, it comes off the knitting needle.
- 1:
Knit stitch: insert knitwise and slip it off the needle.
- 2:
Next knit stitch: insert purlwise and pull the yarn through. Leave it on.
- 3:
Purl stitch: insert purlwise and slip it off the needle.
- 4:
Next purl stitch: going behind the knit stitch, insert knitwise and pull the yarn through. Leave it on.
In short: knit stitches come off knitwise and go in purlwise, and purl stitches come off purlwise and go in knitwise. Repeat these four steps all the way around the neck.
Finishing
When you reach the last knit stitch, slip it off knitwise (you went into it purlwise at the very start). Then sew the yarn through the first purl stitch to close the round, and weave in the end on the inside. The result is a double-layered V-neck with a neat tubular edge.
If you find it hard to follow on dark yarn, zoom into the video. It's the same four steps over and over, and after a few repeats your hand will do it without thinking.
- tubular bind off
- V-neck
- sewn bind off
- 1x1 rib
- knitting technique
- sweater finishing
- hand knitting
- kids sweater
