How to Cast On: The Four Methods Worth Knowing

Casting on makes the first row of stitches. Every method below produces a usable edge; they differ in stretch, firmness and how easy they are to work when you are still learning where your hands go.

First: the slip knot

Three of the four methods start with one.

1. Leave a tail and make a loop in the yarn, crossing the tail over the working end.
2. Reach through the loop and pull a bight of the working yarn through it.
3. Slide that new loop onto the needle and pull both ends to tighten — snug on the needle, but still able to slide.

The slip knot counts as your first stitch.

1. Knitted cast-on — the one to learn first

Uses the knit stitch itself, so nothing new to learn.

1. Slip knot on the left needle.
2. Insert the right needle into that stitch front to back, as if to knit.
3. Wrap the yarn round the right needle anticlockwise.
4. Draw the loop through — but do not slide the old stitch off.
5. Place the new loop onto the left needle, beside the old one.
6. Repeat from step 2 into the stitch you just made, until you have enough.

Result: a soft, loose, slightly loopy edge. Good for beginners and for anything where the edge will be seamed. Not firm enough for a cuff that takes strain.

2. Long-tail cast-on — the everyday one

Faster than the others once learned, and it produces a neat, elastic edge with the first row already worked into it.

1. Estimate the tail: about 2.5 cm per stitch in DK, more in chunky yarn. Make a slip knot at that point.
2. Hold the needle in the right hand, both yarn ends hanging. Put your left thumb and index finger between the two strands — tail over the thumb, working yarn over the finger — and hold both ends in your palm. This is the "slingshot" position.
3. Bring the needle tip up under the loop on the outside of your thumb.
4. Take it over and under the strand on the front of your index finger.
5. Bring that strand back down through the thumb loop.
6. Slip your thumb out, and use it to snug the new stitch gently against the needle.
7. Repeat.

Result: firm, tidy, moderately stretchy. The default for most patterns. The one drawback is having to guess the tail length — running out with six stitches to go is a universal experience. To avoid it entirely, cast on using two separate strands (one from each end of the ball) and cut the spare afterwards.

3. Cable cast-on — when the edge must be firm

Like the knitted cast-on, but the needle goes between the stitches rather than into one.

1. Cast on two stitches using the knitted method.
2. Insert the right needle between the last two stitches on the left needle.
3. Wrap the yarn and draw a loop through that gap.
4. Place the loop on the left needle.
5. Repeat, always working into the gap between the two most recent stitches.

Result: a firm, corded edge with very little stretch. Right for buttonbands, bag tops and anywhere a loose edge would sag. Wrong for a sock cuff that has to go over a heel.

4. Backward loop — for adding stitches mid-row

1. Make a loop in the working yarn over your left thumb.
2. Slide it onto the right needle.
3. Snug it lightly and repeat.

Result: the loosest and least stable of the four. It is not a good edge on its own, and it twists and gapes in a whole row. It is, however, the fastest way to add a few stitches in the middle of a row — for a thumb gusset, an underarm, or the start of a buttonhole.

Choosing

• Scarf, blanket, first project — knitted or long-tail
• Rib cuff, hat brim, sleeve — long-tail
• Buttonband, bag opening, anything structural — cable
• Extra stitches mid-row — backward loop
• Something that must stretch a long way — German twisted or tubular, both variations on long-tail

Getting the tension right

A tight cast-on is the most common beginner problem, and it shows up as a hem that will not stretch over a head or a wrist.

• Cast on over a needle one or two sizes larger, then swap to the pattern needle for row one.
• Or hold two needles together and pull one out afterwards — quick, though it can be too loose in fine yarn.
• Space the stitches out along the needle as you go rather than crowding them at the tip. Crowded stitches are being tightened without you noticing.
• Snug each stitch until it sits against the needle, and stop there. If it grips the needle, it is too tight.

Counting

Count as you go, in groups of ten, and slide a removable marker onto the needle every fifty stitches for anything over a hundred. Recounting a 200-stitch cast-on three times costs more than the markers do.

Once you can cast on, the leaf patterns in autumn leaves and how to knit a leaf are both worked entirely in knit, purl, yarn over and two decreases. If you would like to be quicker about all of it, fast knitting techniques covers the styles that cut the most movement, and knitting needle sizes explains what the numbers on your needles actually mean.