How To Cast On Stitches
Published by JoAnn on Tagged How to Cast On
There are several was to cast on stitches. I am going to give four examples of casting on. Today, we will deal with the Cable Cast on Method (also referred to as English Cast on) and the No Name Cast On Method (my invention when I couldn’t figure the others out). It is simply a matter of finding the one that works best for you and using that method. Once you do this a few times, you will be amazed at how simple it will become.
Cable Cast On Method
The cable cast on method is my personal favorite and was the simplest one for me to learn, once I took the time to learn it. First you need to make a slipknot with the yarn and put it on the left hand needle. When you make the knot, it is best to do so about 3 or 4 inches from the end of the yarn. The end is called a “tail” and is later woven through the finished work using either a crochet hook or a darning needle. Holding the “tail” at the back of the left hand needle, insert the tip of the right hand needle into the loop and pass the yarn over the tip of the right hand needle. Draw the right hand needle and the yarn back through the knot forming a loop on the right hand needle. You now have stitch number two. Carefully loop the stitch over the left hand needle in front of the slipknot. Now repeat the previous step. This will give you stitch number three. Continue until you have the required number of stitches. Before starting a knitting project if you are just learning, take the time to play with these methods and form the stitches, pull them out and make the stitches again. Do this until you are comfortable, it won’t take long before you have no problems casting on.
No Name Cast On Method
When I first started knitting as a child, I found the way my mother cast on too difficult and invented this method for myself. While this method works, you have to be careful because you are just using loops on the needle to form the stitches, if you are not careful when you knit the first row, you can lose your stitches. The first step is to form the slipknot and loop it on your needle, you only need to use one needle for this cast on method. Then keeping the needle and yarn in your right hand, simply form loops over your left thumb with the yarn and slip the loop onto the needle. This method is very fast because you are not knitting the stitches together until you have the required number of stitches on your needle. (My Mother got quite a chuckle of of watching me do this, but she did admit that it worked out in the long run.) When you have all of your stitches on your needle, you have to very cafefully knit them together to get your first row.
January 24th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Thank you JoAnn for this website!
Although I’m quite the visual guy and would have loved some more pictures or drawings to help me develop my knitting skills, you’re doing quite a great job at popularizing your craft.