Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Casting On

Let's start at the beginning, just about anything that is knit starts out with a step called casting on. There are many ways to cast on. I'll show and explain how to cast on today. When I do a tutorial, I really want everyone to be able to learn in the best way possible. Because everyone is different, I am going to include two different methods of teaching. The first will be written instructions and the second will be a video. I learn best from watching examples, but I know that some people also learn when they can read words that explain the process, and others like a combination of both.

My favorite method of casting on is very similar to the knit stitch. The first step is to take your yarn and form a slip knot. If you already know how to make a slip knot, you can skip the next paragraph.

This is done by holding the end of the yarn with one hand and with your other hand, place two fingers on the yarn a little closer to your ball of yarn. Make a loop with the yarn over your two fingers and with your other hand bring the end of the yarn up between your fingers, between the loop. Pull it tight and now you have a slip knot! It's called a slip knot because if you pull on the yarn, the knot travels up and down. If you pull hard enough, the knot will come out completely.

Take the loop formed by the slip knot and place it on your needle. Pull the tails of the yarn so that the loop fits snugly around the needle, but not too tight that you can't move the yarn on the needle. Take your other needle and stick it through the slip knot. Loop your yarn that is attached to the rest of the yarn, not the little tail on the other side of the slip knot, around your needle. Pull the needle through the slip knot loop and place your new loop onto the needle with the slip knot loop. Now, you have two stitches on your needle. Repeat this until you are comfortable with it. Now you know what to do when a pattern says cast on (CO) and number of stitches.





Here's the video.




I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, just leave a comment below, or email me at KnittingKel@gmail.com. Thanks!

1 comment:

Mama-Petie said...

Kelly,
I enjoyed your video-you make it look so simple. I am thinking about trying to knit something one day.
Mama-Petie