Basic Knitting Patterns, Beautiful Results! 

How to Cast On

There are many ways to cast on, but probably the two most popular are the Long-Tail Cast-On and the Knitted Cast-On. Both give a nice finished edge to a project, but I prefer the Knitted Cast-On. It is quick, uses a motion you will already be familiar with (the knit stitch) and can be used to cast on stitches in the middle of a project, which you cannot do with a Long-Tail Cast On. (Also with the Long-Tail Cast On you need to estimate how much yarn you’ll need to cast on the total amount of stitches before you start, which I am very bad at…)

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Knitted Cast-On

1. Start with a slip knot (or any knot) on your Left Hand Needle (LHN), leaving a 6” tail:

2. Insert Right Hand Needle (RHN) into the stitch on the LHN from front to back:

3. Bring yarn (the strand going back to the ball) around the back of the RHN:

4. Bring the yarn through by pushing with the RHN

5. Now pull this loop toward you:

6. Bring LHN around to the front and slip into loop from below:

7. Place this loop on the LHN. This is your first cast-on stitch (not counting the slipknot you started with).

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