Three Needle Bind-Off Tutorial to Seam the Top of a Hat

This is where we begin. Your hat is the desired length.

***NOTE: While the method presented in this tutorial can be used for other knitted hats, my newest pattern, A Seafaring Man, pictured in this post, is currently in testing. If you would like notification once the pattern is released, please PM me on Ravelry for an earburn! Thank you for reading my blog post, and tag me on Instagram @freckledgirl knits if you give 3-needle bind-off a try!***

If you are knitting my newest pattern, A Seafaring Man, and you have never executed a 3-needle bind-off before, I am here to help!

Yes, the crown of the hat can be finished traditionally, with a round top, created using decreases at regular intervals, and that is included in the pattern as well. However, if you are interested in creating a knife-edge, square top, with a seam straight across the top of the hat, then this is the tutorial for you. In addition to the work currently on your circular needles, you will need an extra needle in the same size as your circulars, such as a dpn or straight needle.

(Note: This method will work to finish the top of any hat that has been knitted in the round! Just be sure that your hat is the final height you want it to be before starting the bind-off.)

Once you achieve the desired length of the hat, you are going to very carefully flip the hat inside out and bind off all the stitches together to create an interior seam. Let's go!

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1. Once you achieve the total desired length of your hat, remove the stitch marker and set aside. 

NOTE: If you are working A Seafaring Man, please note that all the sizes have an even number of stitches, so as you work this bind-off, each of your stitches will have a "partner" and will match up evenly. 

2. This is a tricky part: without letting your stitches slide off your circular needles, very carefully turn you hat inside out. After that, you might want to slide your ball of yarn through the top so it is on the new "outside." This just makes it a little less fiddly (I have done that here in the photo). Line up your circular needles side by side. You will have a bit of bunchy stitches on the cord of the circular needles. This is okay, but if it really bothers you and feels too fiddly or messy, you could choose to slide all the stitches onto a much longer circular, if you want. That would make it easier to have the stitches side by side. Just be sure to keep the start of the round in the same spot, especially if you are using this to close the top of a hat with a defined front and back. Knitter's choice!

If you have done a 3-needle bind-off in the past to seam sweater shoulders, for example, you will notice a difference here. The working yarn is attached to the front needle instead of the back. That's ok. This will still work. 

3. Hold the two ends of your circular needle close together with your left hand. Using your extra needle (I used a dpn in US7, just like my circulars), enter the first stitch on the front circular needle (the needle closest to you) from front to back, just as you would to knit a normal knit stitch. Now continue on to do the same for the matching stitch on the circular needle in the back (the circular needle farthest from you). Your extra needle is now going through two stitches, the front one and the back one. 

4. Knit those two stitches together as one. You now have one stitch on the right (extra) needle and all the rest still on the circulars.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4. You now have two stitches on the extra needle. 

Pictured above, I have done a few bind-off stitches to show the seam starting. 

6. Working on the extra needle: slide the first stitch you knitted over the second one and off the needle. You now have one stitch left on the right needle, just as you would in a regular bind-off. 

7. Continue to repeat steps 3-6, working through the stitches on the circular needles. 

8. When you are about halfway through binding off the stitches, you might notice some tension starting on the stitches still waiting to be worked. Fold the cord in half, separating the stitches in half and slide them up to the needles to continue, letting the cord stick out the back, as pictured. Try to be sure that the stitches are divided exactly in half, but if you get to the end and they are not, you can always re-adjust them without too much trouble. (I had to do that on the hat pictured!)

9. Once you have completed binding off all the stitches, cut the yarn, thread it through the remaining stitch/loop and weave in the end! 

Now you can easily flip your hat right side out. Note the nice, clean seam on the top! Once you block it, it will be even smoother. 

A freshly seamed hat, pictured above!

Flipping the finished hat right-side out is much easier than the other way around!

Note: To block these hats (for I have made a few!), I have been soaking them in lukewarm water with some Eucalan, pressing the excess water out in a clean dry towel, and laying them out on another dry, clean towel till dry. Alternately, you could put them on a hat form, too, instead of a towel once the excess water is squeezed out!

Please tag me on Instagram with your projects using the 3-needle bind-off!