How to Cast On Extra Stitches During a Picot Bind-Off

The added stitches provide the material for each little point. You create them at the working end of the needle, then bind them off as part of the edging. Holli Yeoh describes this construction as casting on stitches and immediately binding them off before continuing the ordinary bind-off. Holli Yeoh: Picot Bind Off.

The extra stitches are therefore temporary additions to the live stitch count. They belong to the picot repeat; keep them in your count when the pattern tells you how many stitches to bind off.

Different tutorials begin differently. Kelbourne Woolens starts by casting on two stitches, while La Visch Designs begins with an ordinary bind-off section before adding stitches. Read the complete repeat before starting so that you follow one version consistently. Kelbourne Woolens: Picot Bind Off, La Visch Designs: Working a Picot Bind-Off.

If you have already begun binding off, stop where the next picot belongs. You should have one working loop on the right needle and the remaining live stitches on the left. Transfer that single right-needle loop back to the left needle. Holli Yeoh shows this preparation before working a cable cast-on. Holli Yeoh: Picot Bind Off.

Keep the same side of the fabric facing you while transferring the loop. Moving a stitch between needles does not require turning the project or starting a new row. For the complete repeat below, the right needle is empty before each cast-on.

Have your working yarn available for knitting. You will form the new stitches from that yarn. The existing stitches supply the starting point, so you do not need another slip knot. Kelbourne Woolens specifically identifies the knitted cast-on as a method for adding stitches during a project. Kelbourne Woolens: Knitted Cast On.

Use this method when your pattern specifies a knitted cast-on or knitted-on cast-on. La Visch Designs explains the essential distinction from a normal knit stitch: retain the original stitch and put the newly drawn loop onto the left needle. La Visch Designs: Working a Picot Bind-Off.

1. Insert the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle as if to knit.
2. Wrap the working yarn as you normally would for a knit stitch.
3. Draw a new loop through, keeping the original stitch on the left needle.
4. Place the new loop onto the left needle. You have added one stitch.
5. Work into this newest stitch and repeat to add the second stitch.

After casting on two, the left needle holds two more loops than it did before. If the total has stayed the same, check whether you slid an original stitch off while drawing a loop through. The retained original loop is what allows the stitch count to increase. La Visch Designs: Working a Picot Bind-Off.

For a cable cast-on, insert the right needle between the first two stitches on the left needle. Wrap the yarn as if knitting, draw a loop forward through the gap, and place that loop onto the left needle. Repeat between the new first and second stitches to add another loop. Holli Yeoh demonstrates this sequence specifically for a picot bind-off. Holli Yeoh: Picot Bind Off.

Cast-on method	Where the right needle enters	Where the added loop goes
Knitted cast-on	Into the first stitch	Onto the left needle
Cable cast-on	Between the first two stitches	Onto the left needle

Choose the method named in your pattern. If you are choosing an edging yourself, practice one complete version on a swatch before comparing alternatives. The tutorials above establish that either construction can be used for picots; their individual finishing sequences also matter.

Here is a complete cable-cast-on practice sequence based on the repeat taught by Let’s Knit. Begin with the live stitches on the left needle and an empty right needle. If you are midway through an edge, first return the single working loop to the left needle. Let’s Knit: How to Work a Picot Edge Cast Off.

1. Cable cast on two stitches.
2. Knit the first two stitches on the left needle.
3. Lift the older right-needle stitch over the newer one and off the needle. This binds off one stitch.
4. Knit the next left-needle stitch and pass the older right-needle loop over it. Repeat this action twice more. You have now bound off four stitches in total.
5. Return the remaining right-needle loop to the left needle.
6. Repeat while enough stitches remain for another full repeat.

The counting distinction matters: with an empty right needle, you must knit five loops to perform four pass-overs. Count the pass-overs when checking “bind off four.” The two newly cast-on stitches are included in that operation.

Kelbourne Woolens publishes the same cast-on-two, bind-off-four, return-the-loop structure using a knitted cast-on. Follow its version throughout if that is the construction your pattern requests. Kelbourne Woolens: Picot Bind Off.

Use this illustrative count check for the practice repeat above. Suppose ten live loops are on the left needle and the right needle is empty:

Stage	Left needle	Right needle
Before casting on	10	0
After adding two stitches	12	0
After four bind-off pass-overs	7	1
After returning the working loop	8	0

This is stitch-count arithmetic, not a measured swatch result. Each completed repeat adds two loops and removes four, reducing the total live count by two. Checking at the same point—after returning the working loop—makes successive repeats easier to compare.

For this standalone practice edging, if two or three loops remain before another cast-on, bind them off normally instead of beginning an incomplete repeat. When only the final working loop remains, cut the yarn with enough tail to weave in and draw the end through it. On a patterned project, use the designer’s ending instructions, particularly where picot placement must meet another edge. Let’s Knit also finishes by drawing the cut yarn through the final loop. Let’s Knit: How to Work a Picot Edge Cast Off.

First compare your actions across repeats: the same cast-on count, the same number of pass-overs, and the same loop transfer. Then inspect tension. Nimble Needles recommends moderate tension for this edging and notes that blocking helps separate and define the points. Let’s Knit likewise recommends evenly pinning out the picots during blocking. Nimble Needles: How to Knit a Picot Bind Off, Let’s Knit: How to Work a Picot Edge Cast Off.

If you want to change the appearance, test the adjustment on a swatch. Picot size and spacing are separate choices: adding more stitches changes the point, while working more ordinary bind-off stitches between points increases their separation. The yarn also affects the finished appearance. Holli Yeoh: Picot Bind Off, Let’s Knit: How to Work a Picot Edge Cast Off.

Before continuing across the whole project, check one finished repeat closely. Confirm that the added loops went onto the left needle, that you counted bind-off pass-overs, and that the working loop is ready for the next cast-on. Once those movements are consistent, you can repeat the edging with a clear count at every picot.

• Picot Bind Off — Kelbourne Woolens
• Knitted Cast On — Kelbourne Woolens
• Picot Bind Off — Holli Yeoh
• tutorial – working a picot bind-off — La Visch Designs
• How to work: picot edge cast off — Let’s Knit
• How to knit a picot bind off — Nimble Needles