In a Bind Off

A new shawl is coming off the needles and I'm taking a rather welcome break from the bind off process to post.  This is one of the shawls we'll be working with at the Knitaway® in the Studio this week so there is no time to waste.  Blocking will ensue bright and early tomorrow morning as I do intend to stay awake until the last stitch is tucked in.

 As is the case with many of my favorite shawls there are lots of stitches to bind off on this one, not as many as the Folk School Shawl nor as many as the Irish Diamond but still a significant number.    And being a shawl, this has to be a very flexible but sturdy and beautiful bind off.  I came across the bind off via a search in the wonderful Revised Unified Index on Techknitting.com and the link there to The Miraculous Elastic Bind Off as posted on SlipSlipKnit .  Margaret Stove demonstrates the  technique as  a bind off used on traditional Shetland shawls.  I did the knit-wise version and I used a needle two sizes smaller than that I used to knit the shawl.  I like the looks of it and the flexibility is perfect for this long outer edge.    It is very, very flexible.  In fact I highly recommend using a smaller needle to bind off with this technique.  Pretty though, isn't it?