Three Needle Bind Off with Exposed Seams

When you want a visible seam as a decorative design feature, especially at the shoulders, work this method of Three Needle Bind Off. It creates a pretty chain that lies nice and flat on the right side of your knitting.

It stays centered between the two pieces

without bending forward. This is created by alternating knit and purl stitches as you bind off.

Watch how it's done here:

Watch Video

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Step-by-Step Directions

Setup: Make sure you have the same number of stitches on separate needles with needle tips pointing in the same direction when wrong sides are held together.

Step 1: Insert 3rd needle knitwise into the first stitch on the front needle, bring yarn forward between front and back pieces, then purl the first stitch on the back needle and let it drop, take the yarn to the back then knit the stitch on the front needle that is held open and let it drop. 

Step 2: Work Step 1 once more. There are now two stitches on the right needle. 

Step 3: Pass first stitch over second stitch on right needle. One stitch has now been bound off.

Repeat Steps 1 and 3 until one stitch remains on the right needle. Cut yarn, leaving a 6”/15 cm tail and pull it through the last st.

In Step 1, you're inserting the needle into the first stitch on the front needle but not completing it. You're basically holding this stitch open, purling the stitch on the back needle, then coming back to this to finishing knitting it and removing it from the needle.

The reason you bring the yarn to the front then to the back, is that you're repositioning the yarn in preparation for working the next stitch. The yarn needs to be in the front before purling a stitch and in the back before knitting a stitch. So after inserting the needle knitwise into the first stitch, you bring your yarn forward to set up the purl stitch, then you purl the stitch and let it drop from the back needle, then bring your yarn to the back to get ready for the knit stitch.

Tension

Since this seam will be visible, concentrate on making each bound off stitch the same size. Maintain the tension used when knitting your pieces. Don't pull too tight which will cause your fabric to gather. Don't knit one stitch tightly and another loosely because you'll end up with small and large Vs along your chain. Your goal should be to maintain even tension while working this bind off.

Direction

The bound off stitches will look like Vs lying on their side, all pointing in one direction. Be mindful of this direction. If you're binding off shoulders of a sweater, and you want the left shoulder to be a mirror image of the right shoulder, then work in the same direction on each shoulder. What I mean by this, is if you bind off the left shoulder from armhole to neck, then bind off the right shoulder from armhole to neck also. If you bind off from neck to armhole on one shoulder, bind off the other shoulder from neck to armhole as well. This creates a balance look, with the stitches of the seam of both shoulders pointing towards (or away) from each other.

You can use this anytime you have live stitches on two needles. If you're working a drop-shoulder sweater where the join between sleeve and body is midway down the upper arm and you'd like an exposed seam at this join, then work the body (top down or bottom up, it doesn't matter) and make sure the shoulders have been joined. Work the sleeve in the round from the bottom up and set aside. Join yarn at the armhole and pick up and knit stitches around the armhole. Leave these stitches on the needle. Start at the center of the underarm and work this method around, until all stitches are bound off.

Have fun with this!