Casting On In Knitting
You just saw a beautiful handmade knitted scarf and now you have two knitting needles and no idea what to do.
First begin by casting on yarn onto your needle. Casting on is the creation of stitches on your knitting needle.
To cast on to our needle we are going to make a slip knot. Our slip knot will allow us to attach yarn to the needle without it coming off. This knot is called a slip knot, because if you pull on the loop or an end you can make it bigger and smaller.
Easy Slip Knot for Casting On
Pull 22" length of yarn from the ball. Make a circle on top of the yarn that came from the yarn ball from the end.
Slip the needle under the yarn in the middle of the circle and pull on both strands of the yarn to tighten loosely. The slip knot should easily slide up and down the needle no problem. I find it much easier to work with loose knots and stitches on my needles, but just the right balance.
The yarn that comes from the ball is called the working yarn and the other end is called the tail.
Good Job
The slip knot is the first stitch on the needle.
Knitting patterns will instruct you on how many stitches to cast on, needle size, and yarn weight, which is awesome for you. Depending on your pattern you will now begin adding stitches to your needle. Watch Whimsy YouTube Video for easy step by step instructions.
Step By Step Knitted Cast On
Jumping Through The Loops
To begin the cast on, slide the right-hand needle into the loop on the left-hand needle, from front to back, as shown in the video. This is known as opening the loop.
Wrapping The Yarn
The next step is to loop the yarn that is attached to the yarn ball (working yarn) over the point of the right-hand needle, going counter-clockwise. Hold the yarn loosely in your right as you do.
This is right-hand knitting or throwing known as English knitting.
Continental or left-hand knitting, the yarn is held in the left hand.
Your loops should be tight enough to stay on the needle, but loose enough to slide the second needle through with ease. You will learn what feels like the right amount of tension in your work.
Pulling The Loop
This part is just a little tricky. You need to slide the right-hand needle back out from behind the left-hand needle, while keeping the loop you just made on the right-hand needle and the slip knot on the left-hand needle.
Keep holding onto the yarn with your right hand so it doesn't get away from you. Slowly slide the right-hand needle down so the loop gets close to the tip of the needle, but does not slide off. At the same time the right-hand needle will be coming out from behind the left-hand needle.
When the right-hand needle just comes out from behind the left-hand needle.
Finishing the Stitch
Now all you have to do is slide the loop that's on the right-hand needle onto the left-hand needle, above the slip knot loop.
Now you have two stitches. To cast on the desired number of stitches, repeat these steps until you have the required number of stitches on your needle.
You now have your first row of stitches, Great Job everyone.
So once you get your cast on finished, you'll be ready to go with the knit stitch.
Casting On Summary
I have to say that watching the video may be easier to follow than reading my instructions, but with the two resources together I believe that you will be knitting in a few short lessons.
Glad to see you at the Whimsy Studio for another free knitting lesson.
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