Matching CO and BO

Last weekend was Black Sheep Gathering. As usual, it was a blast and a half. I missed out on the Sheep to Shawl competition, but I got to watch Judith MacKenzie McCuin at work in the fleece judging—wow, what an education! (Judith, how do you hold so much fiber info in your head??) Wandering the market wasn’t a shopping experience so much as a social experience, a welcome chance to catch up with people that I see only once every few months.

And I taught classes: Hook Hocus-Pocus, Cast-on Cornucopia, and Bind-off Bonanza. All three went well enough, though as luck would have it, I realized on the drive home that I neglected to answer a student’s question.

See, I like to start each class by asking if anyone has anything specific they came to learn: something mentioned in the class description, something related to the class topic, whatever. It helps me figure out where to focus our time. Sometimes I’m smart, and I write these requests on the classroom’s whiteboard so I can cross them off as we progress through the class material. Sometimes I’m not, and a topic falls through the cracks.

The topic that fell through the cracks this Saturday was choosing cast-ons and bind-offs that match each other. Here’s my belated answer:

• Match a standard pass-stitch-over BO perfectly with a crocheted CO. Bonus: pso BOs and crocheted COs also match chain selvedges created by slipping the first stitch of every row.
• Cast on provisionally, leaving a long tail. Knit the project, and BO the ending edge using your choice of BO method. Then release the provisional CO, and BO the starting edge using the same BO method.
• Use tubular CO and tubular BO, if you have ribbing at both the starting and ending edges of your project.
• Use a sewn BO to match a long-tail CO.

Anybody have any other ideas for matching CO and BO?

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