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Make Your Cast On Looser for Knitting Success

May 27, 2016 by Sarah White

Try this simple tip for relaxing your cast on in knitting.Do you have trouble with your cast on edge being a lot tighter than the rest of your knitting? I still do sometimes (usually when I’m doing a long-tail cast on and I’m in a hurry so I fly through it and pull tighter than I would if I were thinking about it).

The key to a loose cast on isn’t doing it on a larger needle — that just makes the loops bigger, but doesn’t do anything about the space between them.

What you really need to do is spread the stitches out as you cast on, as this post from Fringe Association notes.

How do you do that? Be mindful of the space between the stitches as you cast on, making sure you’re not bunching them all together. I often stick my thumb against the needle as I’m placing the stitch on so that the stitches sit with that much space between them.

You can also do a knit cast on instead of a long tail, which will automatically be a bit roomier and will remind you to stretch the stitches like you do while you’re knitting.

Do you have any tricks for looser cast ons? We’d love to hear them!

[Photo via Fringe Association.]

Next Pattern:

  • What's Your Favorite Way to Cast on?
  • A Cheat Sheet for Cast Ons
  • How to Knit: The Knit Cast On
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Comments

  1. Marni N. says

    May 27, 2016 at 11:14 am

    Lately I’ve been doing the ‘Russian’ cast on, which is the long tail cast on with an extra twist. It makes the cast on a little stretchier and a little more room between the stitches. I don’t think I will ever go back to just the long tail cast on.

  2. Joan says

    May 28, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    You can also use both needles when casting on.

Have you read?

Knit a Linen Stitch Hot Pad

Linen stitch is one of my favorite knitting stitch patterns that, every time I use it in a project, I think about how I don’t use it often enough. 

It’s an easy stitch to make, with slip stitches done with the yarn held to the front of the work on the right/front side and to the back on the wrong/back side, which makes the strand of yarn a visible part of the pattern. 

It also makes a fabric that is thick and looks kind of like a woven fabric.

I recently used linen stitch to make a double-thick pot holder, which I worked in a kind of interesting way. I didn’t want to have to do any sewing on the project, so I started it from a crochet cast on and picked up stitches from the side of the cast on to make the hot pad all in one piece in the round with the edge sealed. 

This requires working on two circular needles, which is another technique I don’t use that often and am always reminded how much I like it when I do. 

The combination of double thickness and the stitch pattern makes for a hot pad that’s already pretty thick, but I also added a bit of old towel to the inside before I closed up the end to make it super thick and extra protective for your surfaces. 

I found the engineering challenge of this construction method to be a lot of fun, but you could also just knit it as a tube (casting on twice as many stitches as I did) and sew up the ends by hand when the knitting is done. Either way you’ve got a useful and pretty addition to your kitchen, whether you work it in a solid color, stripes or as a stash busting project will all your cotton odd balls. 

You can grab the pattern over at Our Daily Craft, or check it out on Ravelry. 

40+ Hot Pads You Can Sew For The Kitchen [Sewing]

A Cozy Knit to Calm Your Mind

Double Knit an Infinity Scarf

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