How to Knit: The Knit Cast On

When I was learning how to knit, my mom would always cast on for me. I don’t actually remember learning how to cast on when I was a kid, so I don’t know if I ever knew how to do it myself until I was older and re-learning.

It’s understandable to want to skip that part when you’re teaching someone how to knit. Casting on isn’t that exciting, it doesn’t feel like knitting and it can be confusing (especially if you’re trying to teach the long tail cast on to someone who has never knit before).

But not teaching a cast on means you can’t start a knitting project unless you have a knitter with you. Which is fine if you’re teaching someone in your household, but not so great if you’re teaching a coworker, friend, random person who won’t have access to you whenever they need a cast on.

So whenever I teach people how to knit I always start with the knit cast on.

It’s pretty quick and easy to learn and it’s basically teaching you how to work a knit stitch, so once you’re comfortable with the cast on you’ve learned what you need to know to start knitting.

Also because it’s based on the knit stitch it’s easy for new knitters to remember how to do it as long as they remember how to form the knit stitch.

And while many knitters move on from this basic cast on to do others later on, this is a cast on you can always use. It’s slower than the long tail cast on (once you get the hang of long tail) but you don’t have to have a long tail to do the knit cast on, just a slip knot.

This also makes it a solid choice if you’re casting on stitches at the end of a row, because you can just work from the last stitch and add as many as you need. It makes a nice, sturdy cast on that looks nice, and it gives new knitters confidence because it makes learning how to knit look easy once they’ve gotten the hang of the cast on.

I recently made this video showing how to do it, in case you need a refresher or are teaching someone else how to knit.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTOfSTMVp2Q]

Do you ever use the knit cast on? Did you learn this way? I’d love to hear about it!

Next Pattern:

I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

Next Pattern:

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