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An Easy Way to Take the Guesswork Out of the Long Tail Cast On

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how to know the right length for a long tail cast onI love doing the long tail cast on. It’s what I use probably 98 percent of the time. It’s quick and easy once you know how to do it, but it can be a challenge, especially when you’re casting on a lot of stitches, to know how long your long tail should be.

A reader recently sent in this video tip that will help you make your long tail the right length every time; it’s actually the method I use most of the time when I’m casting on this way, too.

I’ll save you the click and tell you that it’s a matter of wrapping the yarn around the needle once for each stitch you need (or if you’re casting on a bunch, wrap, say, 20 times and then use that amount as a measurement to get up to the number you need).

I would add that you should do this kind of loosely because if you wrap the yarn too tightly you won’t have enough to make the stitches.

Do you do something like this when you’re estimating for a long tail cast on? Do you actually measure the length you need or do you guess? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo via Sheep Thrills.]

Comments

  1. When doing the long-tail cast-on, I use 2 strands of yarn…either from 2 balls or from the outside and inside of 1 ball. You can cast-on any number of stitches you need without having to estimate, or without ever having a tail that ends up too long/short. Once the stitches are cast-on, you just need to cut one yarn and continue knitting with the other.

  3. Once, I cast on 100 stitches, pulled them out and stretched that yarn between my arms. Now I know if I stretch out my arms as far as they go, with the yarn in my hands, I have about 100 stitches worth of yarn. To make up for needle sizes, I generally add a bit of yarn to the final amount. It usually works out pretty close and any excess can be used for seaming, if necessary

Have you read?

Classic Dishcloth Knitting Patterns

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use. 

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make. 

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!). 

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn. 

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart. 

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern. 

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.