What do you think?
Rate this book
Cast On, Bind Off: 211 Ways to Begin and End Your Knitting
In one extraordinary book, have at your fingertips more than 120 ways to cast on and more than 80 ways to bind off. This beautifully organized treasury is ideal for all skill levels. A terrific value! Find each technique presented with step-by-step written instructions, clear how-to illustrations, and a photo of the finished edge Learn the advantages and disadvantages of each method, including suggestions for when to use it Discover workhorse and specialty cast ons and bind offs for colorwork, cuffs, ruffles, fringe, lace buttonholes, and more
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 20, 2012
93 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 12, 2019
Cast On, Bind Off: 211 Ways to Begin and End Your Knitting
Cap Sease
Martingale, 2012
162 pages, Craft Reference
Kindle, Hardcover (Spiral), Paperback
Purchased at the current price
✭✭✭✭✭
The cover is very attractive and tells you immediately that it’s a book about knitting with its two wooden knitting needles and the examples of knitting arranged in a grid. The examples are in different colors, so it’s colorful all set against a pristine white backdrop.
The author is home taught, as in her grandmother taught her how to knit. That’s the best kind, but don’t feel bad if you learned in school or had to take classes in a yarn shop or a friend taught you. Any way you learned is valid as long as you learned, feel secure in your technique, and get good results. If you don’t feel you have either or both casting on or binding off nailed down or you’re looking for a different technique or edge, this is the book for you.
Ms. Sease speaks in an easy to understand style that makes you feel as if you are sitting with her over tea and learning the techniques from her in person. She does start out with a few charts. First to list the types of cast ons, then the bind offs. Then she lists the pairs that go together to give you matching edges. I thought that would be a particularly helpful list for future projects.
From the lists, she jumps right into how to do each of the cast ons and then each of the bind offs. She has them broken down into categories, such as those that start from a slip knot, long tail, and such. She shares the advantages and disadvantages of each and has very clear illustrations showing how each is done. I felt between her worded description of the stitches and the illustrations there wasn’t a technique I wouldn’t be able to do.
I bought this book because I couldn’t find the stretchy bind off I needed on Pinterest for my current project and I really needed to get it off the needles. I found this book on Amazon at a reasonable price and downloaded it immediately. I skimmed through it looking for my stretchy bind off and finished my project. Then I went back and read through the whole book. I was so excited about bind offs when I finished. I want to try some of the fancier ones sometime. There are some really pretty ones that create picot, curled, or looped edges that I thought I’d like to try just for the fun of it. I highly recommend this book whether you are a beginning knitter or an expert knitter. Just imagine, 211 ways to start or stop!
Cap Sease
Martingale, 2012
162 pages, Craft Reference
Kindle, Hardcover (Spiral), Paperback
Purchased at the current price
✭✭✭✭✭
The cover is very attractive and tells you immediately that it’s a book about knitting with its two wooden knitting needles and the examples of knitting arranged in a grid. The examples are in different colors, so it’s colorful all set against a pristine white backdrop.
The author is home taught, as in her grandmother taught her how to knit. That’s the best kind, but don’t feel bad if you learned in school or had to take classes in a yarn shop or a friend taught you. Any way you learned is valid as long as you learned, feel secure in your technique, and get good results. If you don’t feel you have either or both casting on or binding off nailed down or you’re looking for a different technique or edge, this is the book for you.
Ms. Sease speaks in an easy to understand style that makes you feel as if you are sitting with her over tea and learning the techniques from her in person. She does start out with a few charts. First to list the types of cast ons, then the bind offs. Then she lists the pairs that go together to give you matching edges. I thought that would be a particularly helpful list for future projects.
From the lists, she jumps right into how to do each of the cast ons and then each of the bind offs. She has them broken down into categories, such as those that start from a slip knot, long tail, and such. She shares the advantages and disadvantages of each and has very clear illustrations showing how each is done. I felt between her worded description of the stitches and the illustrations there wasn’t a technique I wouldn’t be able to do.
I bought this book because I couldn’t find the stretchy bind off I needed on Pinterest for my current project and I really needed to get it off the needles. I found this book on Amazon at a reasonable price and downloaded it immediately. I skimmed through it looking for my stretchy bind off and finished my project. Then I went back and read through the whole book. I was so excited about bind offs when I finished. I want to try some of the fancier ones sometime. There are some really pretty ones that create picot, curled, or looped edges that I thought I’d like to try just for the fun of it. I highly recommend this book whether you are a beginning knitter or an expert knitter. Just imagine, 211 ways to start or stop!
March 4, 2024
Really handy book for knitters who are bored of the plain old long tail or knitted cast on and whatever the bind off I learned is. The pictures aren't too confusing but I still looked up the cast on/bind off just to be sure I had it right. I think I've found a new go-to cast on in the German Twisted. My biggest gripe with this book is the quality of the binding. It's great that it lays flat, it just makes an awful nails-on-chalkboard noise when I turn the page. I'm not sure what to call it but it's like the binding on those local fundraising cookbooks but my cookbooks don't make this noise.
May 24, 2021
All of the cast ons & bind offs you will ever need. I would say this book is essential for any knitter wanting to move past the basics when it comes to how you start and finish your projects. Knitwear designers- this book is also a great resource with you! Each cast on/bind off has step-by-step diagrams and photos of the finished product. Such a fantastic resource & a must have for your knitting library.
Read
May 10, 2021Lots of options but I don't find diagrams particularly helpful when I'm trying to learn a new stitch or technique. I'll probably stick with some of my online sources for video tutorials if I need to figure something out. It is nice that the author lists alternate names for techniques as sometimes you find multiple titles for the same process when searching in books or online.
December 5, 2018
I knew there were differences in casting on and binding off methods -- but I never knew how many! a good resource for different types of projects, to ensure your wonderful knit work retains its shape or is enhanced at the edges.
November 12, 2016
Instructions with drawings to assist in understanding how to do the various cast ons and bind offs with pics of swatches with the completed edges.
August 30, 2018
Nice reference - covers all the unusual cast on's I've used and she cross references the various names for them which makes it easy to locate them.
December 22, 2020
This is one of my most important knitting reference books.
July 28, 2021
Great coverage of topic
Very informative. Also gives examples of when it's appropriate for each cast on or bind off as well as the original source. I am impressed.
Very informative. Also gives examples of when it's appropriate for each cast on or bind off as well as the original source. I am impressed.
October 8, 2012
I quite enjoy this book - not only is it fun to look through, it's a great reference when looking for the perfect cast on or bind off for a specific project. You can look for cast ons or bind offs based on purpose (durable, elastic, rolled edge, firm edge, etc) or flip through a section to see all the variations (of say, loop cast ons or decorative bind offs). The step-by-step illustrations and directions are clear and easy to follow and I love the fact that it has pictures of what each CO or BO looks like as well as descriptions of the characteristics for that (style of) bind off or cast on.
It doesn't have every variation of every CO or BO, but it still has a massive amount. And the book size is perfect for printing out a sheet of paper with a new CO or variation and sticking it in the back of the book - no sticking out pages. And maybe that makes me a big nerd, but that makes me happy.
It doesn't have every variation of every CO or BO, but it still has a massive amount. And the book size is perfect for printing out a sheet of paper with a new CO or variation and sticking it in the back of the book - no sticking out pages. And maybe that makes me a big nerd, but that makes me happy.
April 10, 2015
I didn't so much read this as flip through it to get some ideas. I found at least one bind off that I really liked. The thing about knitting books for me though is I find it impossible to follow directions from pictures, I need a video or someone live-in-person to teach me. I think I'm too green of a knitter for this book to be really helpful yet, but maybe after some more practice I'll come back to it and it will make more sense.
July 31, 2015
I have a significant amount of knitting books, including a couple casting books. They were smaller books, so when this arrived, I was surprised at its size. It's around the A4 size (a bit wider), and I initially thought it was a waste. Having read it, I changed my mind. There is room for notes and it's easy to use and keep the stages distinct so you don't feel "rushed". A nice thing when you're learning a new technique. I'd definitely recommend it for a beginner knitter.
September 16, 2015
I used to deliberately pick projects that started small and used increases to get bigger because I hated casting on long rows. I'm still not super fond of casting on, but this book has shown me some cast-ons that work MUCH better than the one I had learned years ago. I had no idea there were so many ways to try.
Reviewed by: deb
Reviewed by: deb
Read
December 22, 2013I need a cast-on cast-off book in my library, and this could be a good selection. Knitting Pipeline like this one better, I think I like the smaller new book better, but they are both really wonderful.
November 9, 2013
Good source for finding some special ways of casting on. Need to try some ...
Here are the ones I think I will try
I cord cast on
Chained cast on
Color Cable Cast on
Yarn Over tubular cast on.
A Library Book so I can request it any time.
Here are the ones I think I will try
I cord cast on
Chained cast on
Color Cable Cast on
Yarn Over tubular cast on.
A Library Book so I can request it any time.
August 7, 2014
The Chinese Waitress cast on?! Now I've seen it all. There are quite a few cast-on, cast-off books out there. I really should buy one for my library. This would be a very good choice.
October 13, 2014
Every bind off and cast on is pretty much in here. Historical provenance of many of them adds extra interest. Easy-to-follow directions.
December 31, 2012
Great book for anyone interested in knitting; good addition to any knitter's library.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews