Is bind off the same as fasten off in crochet?

Yes. Bind off and fasten off mean the same thing in crochet: securing your final loop by cutting the yarn and pulling the tail through the last loop so the work cannot come undone. Bind off is a term borrowed from knitting.

How do you bind off in crochet?

To bind off, or fasten off, cut the working yarn leaving a tail, yarn over, and pull the tail all the way through the loop on your hook, then tighten. This locks the last stitch. Weave in the tail to secure it fully.

Does BO ever mean bobble?

Yes, in some textured stitch patterns BO is used as a short abbreviation for bobble, a raised cluster stitch. The meaning depends on the pattern, so always check the abbreviation key to see whether BO means bind off or bobble.

How do I know which BO a pattern means?

Look at the context and the pattern's abbreviation key. If BO appears at the very end of a piece or section, it means bind off. If it appears within a row as a stitch to make, it likely means bobble. The key removes any doubt.

Is BO a common crochet term?

BO is more common in knitting, where it always means bind off. In crochet, fasten off is the usual term, so you will see BO less often, but it does appear, especially in patterns influenced by knitting or in textured stitch charts.

Crochet Basics

What Does BO Mean in Crochet? (Bind Off and Bobble)

Q: What does BO mean in crochet?

In crochet, BO usually means bind off, which is another way of saying fasten off, the step where you secure your last loop so the work cannot unravel. In some pattern stitches, BO can also stand for bobble, so check the pattern's key.

Published May 23, 2026

What Does BO Mean in Crochet? (Bind Off and Bobble)

If you have seen the abbreviation BO in a crochet pattern and felt unsure what it means, you are not alone. BO can be a little confusing because it has more than one possible meaning in crochet, though one is far more common than the other. This guide explains what BO means, how to tell which meaning applies, and what to do about it. It is part of the crochet basics and works alongside our full abbreviations guide.

The Most Common Meaning: Bind Off

In crochet, BO most often stands for bind off, which is simply another way of saying fasten off. It refers to the final step of finishing your work, where you secure the last loop so the whole piece cannot unravel. Bind off is a term borrowed from knitting, where it is very common, and it has carried over into some crochet patterns. So when you see BO at the end of a piece or section, it is telling you to finish off your work, which is exactly the same as fastening off.

How to Bind Off (Fasten Off)

Binding off in crochet is quick and easy. Cut your working yarn, leaving a tail of about six inches, then yarn over and pull that tail all the way through the loop on your hook, and gently tighten. This locks your last stitch so it cannot come undone. You then weave in the tail to secure it fully and hide it. This is the standard way to finish nearly every crochet project, and it is covered step by step in how to fasten off crochet.

The Other Meaning: Bobble

Less commonly, BO is used in some textured stitch patterns as a short abbreviation for bobble, which is a raised cluster stitch that pops off the surface of the fabric. In this case, BO is not about finishing your work at all, but about making a specific decorative stitch within a row. This is why context matters so much. If you want to learn the bobble itself, see how to crochet a bobble stitch and the main bobble stitch guide.

How to Tell Which BO Is Meant

Telling the two meanings apart is usually easy from the context. If BO appears at the very end of a piece or a section, after all the stitching is done, it means bind off, so you finish off your work. If BO appears within a row as one of the stitches you are told to make, it means bobble, a stitch to work. The surest way to be certain is to check the pattern's abbreviation key, which every good pattern includes and which spells out exactly what each abbreviation means.

Why the Confusion Happens

The confusion around BO happens because crochet borrows some terms from knitting and because different designers abbreviate things differently. In crochet, the usual word for finishing is fasten off rather than bind off, so BO for bind off is less common than in knitting, and its use for bobble adds a second possible meaning. This is a good reminder always to read a pattern's abbreviation key before starting, a habit that saves confusion, as stressed in how to read a crochet pattern.

Clearing It Up

So, BO in crochet almost always means bind off, which is the same as fastening off your work, and occasionally it means bobble in a textured stitch pattern. Use the context and the abbreviation key to tell which, and you will never be stuck. Now that you know, finishing your projects and following textured patterns will be that much clearer. Explore more terms and abbreviations in the crochet terms every beginner should know and the rest of the crochet basics.