When I read how the Two Row Bind Off is worked, I found myself baffled as to how this was supposed to be stretchier than the Chain Bind Off. You work across the first row of the BO passing the knits over the purl stitches. You work across the second row by slipping the purls and passing them over each other. I can’t imagine how that is supposed to make it stretchier than simply passing stitches over each other as you work across one row as with the Chain Bind Off. It’s just weird.

It does create a nice edge. The Knitter’s Handbook suggests using it when adding fringe because it creates nice little gaps. I could see the Two Row BO being useful in situations that use ribbing to prevent curl instead of for its stretch like on a scarf, but there are better BO methods for something like that.

From the bottom it looks just like the Chain BO. It looks like a tidy row of knit stitches or a crocheted chain. It’s pretty from this angle and functional.

The view from the front is where this bind off method struggles. It creates loops around all the stitches which makes a sort of lumpy line. The loops tighten when the edge is stretched so they’re less noticeable, but I would never use this bind off for something like a neckline or button bands. It’s just not pretty enough. That said, I’ve used it for the bottom of sweaters and sleeves and probably will use it again. I think it looks nice with a sweater that has a lot of reverse stockinette because the little loops around the stitches look like design features and not like sad lumps. It’s not good for everything, but it’s not a bad stretchy BO method.

This was the first BO method I learned when I was new to knitting. It’s not a bad choice for beginners because it’s really easy to learn and it’s not too shabby looking. Unfortunately, the rest of my knitting skills advances and I kept using the same old BO.

I’m rather fond of the Chain BO, even if it doesn’t usually work for what I’m doing. I like the crisp line it makes at the edge and I like how the bottom of it looks like a line of stitches or a crocheted chain. I love that you can crochet right off the edge with ease.

The Chain Bind Off definitely has it’s place in knitting, but it doesn’t even begin to qualify as a stretchy BO method. It’s difficult to bind off loosely and it doesn’t stretch much even if you do. It can be quite rigid feeling when you try to stretch it. My swatch only stretched from 2 inches to 3.75 inches. That’s just not enough stretch for ribbing so I’m on a quest for a new BO method.