Knitting 101: Casting On

Before you can start a knitting project, you have to cast on. This just means adding stitches to your needle so you have something to knit. Let’s take a look at how to do that.

There are dozens of ways to cast on, but I’m just going to show you one of them: the long tail cast on.

The first thing you have to do is pull out a fair amount of yarn from your ball. To do this cast on, you’ll use up yarn from both the tail you’ve pulled and the ball. That’s why it’s called the “long tail” cast on.

Next, make a “gun” with your pointer finger and thumb. Drape the yarn over these two fingers with the end of the tail on the thumb side.

 

Step three is to place a knitting needle on top of the yarn and carefully guide it down so it looks kind of like an upside down A.

 

Now the magic starts. Draw the point of your needle through the loop on your thumb,

over the loop on your finger,

and back through the thumb loop.

Pull your thumb and finger out of the yarn and tighten it around the needle – not too tight or it will be hard to knit the first row. You have now cast on the first two stitches.

Repeat these steps for each additional stitch you need to cast on. Only the first one creates two stitches; every other cast on repeat will add one stitch to your needle.

Keep practicing this today. Tomorrow I’ll be back with a tutorial on creating the knit stitch (and a review and giveaway that you won’t want to miss, especially if you have small people in your life!)

Blessings,