Remember when I told you that you didn’t need 100s of cast-ons and bind-offs? You can pretty much get by with a handful or two. Let’s count up the beginnings we’ve seen so far:
1) The Long-Tail Cast-On (knitted and purled versions, a great all-around workhorse)
2) The Lace Cast-On (loose, stretchy edge)
3) The Tubular Cast-On (very tidy, it wraps around the edge)
4) The Cable Cast-On (the second one I ever learned and important)
5) The Provisional Cast-On
And the Bind-offs:
1) The Long-Tail Bind-Off
2) A Stretchy Decrease Bind-Off and A Stretchy Passover Bind-Off (JSSBO)
3) The Tubular Bind-Off
4) The Sloped Bind-Off (one of my favorites)
Finally we look at two sort of odd-ball skills that have to do with beginnings:
1) The Garter Stitch Tab Cast-On (a clever and popular way to start triangular shawls).
AND . . .
2) How to Reinforce a Cast-On edge. This filled a request from a viewer who had used a non sturdy cast-on and was worried about it. It’s a handy thing to know.
And that, gentle knitters, is a summary of the starts and ends of knitting that I have covered with video so far. There are many more to explore if you like that sort of thing, but this collection gives you a good, basic tool set. What’s YOUR favorite go-to cast-on or bind-off and why?
Hi Cheryl. Nothing to do with the current email, but wanted to let you know that i just tried your flat seam method of joining pieces together, where you use a bent tapestry needle and pick up the wee bar between the V of the stitches. Wonderful flat finish, and an almost invisible join. I’ve always used the method that my Mum taught me, but your method has revolutionised my finished look. Thank you so much for this. Best regards from New Zealand.
I too have had my sanity save by this joining method. Thanks Cheryl. Just love the round up too. Robyn W Australia.
You are so welcome Robyn! Thanks for your comment.
I want to make the knit ball but couldn’t find which cast on you did . can you use the tubular cast on when doing the stockingnet instead of k1 p1 rib? Same for bind off. thanks so much janeene
Hi Janeene,
I just did a long-tail cast on though if you’re a true stickler you can do a provisional cast-on. I have not tried a tubular cast-on or bind-off in stockinette so I don’t know if they would work. You’d just have to try it out. They wouldn’t be best for the ball because of the seaming.
I would like to re-enforce a ribbing edge on a pocket. Would the slipstitch crochet edge work or would it take out the stretch that you need to put your hand in the pocket? I used a cable cast on for the pocket ribbing. Maybe there is a better way?
You should be able to match the gauge of your cast-on with slip stitch crochet and thus it should be loose enough. The best way is just to try it as it is easy enough to rip out if you don’t like it.
I would be more slow and deliberate about working each crocheted slip stitch (and go up a size or two on the crochet hook if needed). Working at normal speed does tend to make tighter slip stitches, but slowing down and using slightly more exaggerated motions will automatically create looser, stretchier slip stitches even without changing your hook : )
I think this is a great strategy Abby.
Hi Cheryl, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us and for providing this summary. So very useful!
You are so welcome EllyStu. Thanks for commenting.
thank you once again for showing us , you make it so easy to understand and to do , thanks once again for your time and talent x x
You’re so welcome Georgina.
The Twisted German is my favorite too, I find my cast on always seems to be a bit tight, but that one has just the right amount of give so manages to be both firm and stretchy in just the right amounts for pretty much everything. Plus if you do the knit and purl versions, it’s great for ribbing. Surprisingly I’ve only ever been able to find one youtube video for the alternating version and it’s not terribly clear so took a lot of viewing to figure it out.
I’d love to see you make a video of it for clarity.
I would also love to see Cheryl do a video on this with the purl option as I haven’t seen that before. 😀
Mark and Erin. I’ve added this to the list of future programs, with no time projection.
Whenever you get around to it is great! You’re the best, Cheryl!!
I, too, love the German Twisted cast on! For all of the reasons Beverly listed. Once you get used to the movements, it goes really quickly (for me at least). Thank you for putting this list together, Cheryl!
Favorite go-to cast on: Twisted German long tail, sometimes referred to as Old Norwegian. I find that it is a firm flexible cast on that looks nice. The extra twist in the making of, gives this cast-on extra stretch. I have found that for most projects that it provides enough stretch that I don’t have to go up a needle size for the cast-on.
I’ve used it too and I agree it’s handsome. It’s just that I don’t know it well enough to do it without looking it up. Maybe that would be a good video to make and add to the list.