JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<script src="http://knockoutjs.com/downloads/knockout-3.2.0.js"></script>
<div id="container">
</div>
<script id="template" type="text/x-template">
<ul id="list" data-bind="foreach:$data">
<li data-bind="text:$data"></li>
</ul>
</script>
JavaScript
var $container = $("#container");
var $list = $('#list');
var items = ko.observableArray([]);
var node = document.createElement('div');
$container.append(node);
ko.applyBindingsToNode(node, {template:{'name':'template'}}, items);
//ko.applyBindings(items, $list[0]);
items.push('one');
//$list.detach();
items.push('two');
items.push('three');