Cast On, Bind Off (4 page)
Authors: Leslie Ann Bestor
Let the tail yarn and ball yarn hang down. Unless otherwise instructed, the tail yarn is closest to you. Insert forefinger and thumb between the two strands of yarn hanging from the needle.
Use your remaining fingers to grasp the ends of the yarn in the palm of your hand and pull the yarn with your thumb and forefinger pointing up and back: The yarn looks like a slingshot.
Sometimes knitting requires you to slip a stitch from a needle without working it. Or, in the case of some of these cast ons, such as Knitted (
page 31
) or Cable (
page 36
), a newly made stitch is slipped back to the left needle. I always specify whether you should slip it knitwise or purlwise: as if to knit or as if to purl.
Knitwise:
Twist the right-hand needle so the two needles are side by side and insert the tip into the new stitch from below.
Purlwise:
Holding both needles so that they form a continuous line, with the tips touching, pass the stitch from one needle to the other.
Cast Ons
The beginning of a project
is an exciting time, and often we are eager to jump right in and get going. You already know how important it is to knit a swatch when starting a project. And if you care about the edges of your project (and why wouldn't you?), it's also important to first consider the dozens of ways to get stitches on the needles.
Take advantage of your gauge swatch to test out some possibilities. It pays to take the time at this stage to get it right. Anything to avoid the heartache of ripping back three inches (at 100 stitches per row) because the cast on doesn't look right!
But even before swatching, start with an understanding of your project. Will the edge be ribbed or have some other stitch pattern? Does it need to stretch? A little or a lot? Will you be starting in the center and working out? Will you be coming back to add an edging later, or perhaps turning it up to make a hem?
Once you have examined your project to see what characteristics you need, look at the various cast ons to see which might fit. Look inside the front cover for a list of which ones work best in various situations. As you get to know more cast ons, you will get a good sense of your choices. Swatch, and you will discover for yourself how you like to use them.
