How to Knit a Picot Stitch

A picot stitch is a bind off that adds decoration to any edge. It is often used for sweater hems, sock cuffs and shawl edges. If you know how to knit, purl, cast on and bind off then you have the skills to knit a picot stitch bind off.

Work the knit project until you are ready to bind off. For this picot bind off, there are 16 stitches on the needle.

Cast on 2 additional stitches by inserting the needle into the first stitch as if to knit, then wrapping the yarn around the needle.

Pull the loop through, as if you are making a knit stitch.

Transfer the stitch from the right needle back to the left needle along side the rest of the stitches.

Repeat Steps 2 to 4 to cast on one more stitch. These two new stitches will create the picot stitch.

Knit the 2 stitches you just cast on.

Pass the first stitch over second stitch by inserting the left needle into the first stitch.

Pull the stitch over the second stitch and off the needle.

You will now see the small picot that formed from the bind off stitches just beside the right needle.

Repeat Steps 7 to 8 two times to bind off two more stitches from the left needle.

Slip the stitch that is now on the right hand needle back to the left needle.

Repeat Steps 2 to 10 across the row until all stitches have been worked.

When you reach the last stitch, use scissors to cut a three-inch yarn tail. Slip the yarn tail through the last loop on the needle, then use a yarn needle to weave in the loose end.

You can place as many picot stitches across the bind off row as you would like. Some knitting patterns place one or two stitches between each picot, while others place the picot stitches side by side across the row.

The two extra cast-on stitches determine where the picots go. So for example, if you would like to place the picots close together, you may want to skip Step 9 and instead cast on two new stitches each time you bind off a new stitch. For picots that are farther apart, bind off additional stitches in Step 9.