How to Cast On

Casting on is putting the very first row of stitches onto your needle — the foundation every knitted thing stands on, and worth doing well, because a cast-on edge that’s too tight or too sloppy follows the piece for its whole life. Our patterns between them use several: the long-tail cast on taught step by step in the cricket vest’s how-to pages, the Turkish cast on that starts a baby bootie right from the toe, and the magic cast-on that grows the Outback Harvest socks toe-up.

Step by step

Start every cast on with a slip knot: make a loop, pull a second loop through it, pop it onto the needle and snug it gently — never yanked tight. In most cast-ons that knot counts as your first stitch.
The long-tail cast on is the all-rounder to learn first. Measure out a tail of roughly 10 cm for every 10 stitches (a little more for chunky yarn), make your slip knot, then hold the needle in your right hand with the tail draped over your left thumb and the ball yarn over your left forefinger.
Dip the needle tip under the thumb loop, catch the finger yarn from above, and draw it back through the thumb loop; slip the loop off your thumb and tug the tail gently to settle the stitch. Repeat — one smooth scoop per stitch — until you reach the number your pattern asks for.
Keep long-tail stitches snug, not strangled: you should be able to slide them along the needle with a fingertip. A cast-on edge that fights you all through the first row is too tight — if yours always come out that way, cast on over two needles held together and slip one out before row 1.
The knitted cast on is the beginner-friendly alternative and the mid-work helper: knit a stitch, but instead of dropping the old stitch off, slip the new loop straight onto the left-hand needle and knit into it for the next one. It’s also how stitches get cast back on mid-piece — our tissue box covers cast on again above their knitted-in tissue slit, bound off one row and cast on the next.
For toe-up socks and booties, patterns use closed starts instead: Judy’s magic cast-on wraps the stitches around two parallel needles so the toe begins with no seam at all, and the Turkish cast-on wraps the yarn around both needles to the same end — our Outback Harvest socks and the toe-up baby booties each start one of these ways, explained where they’re used.
Casting on in the middle of a row — for a buttonhole, a thumb opening or a slit — the backward-loop method is quickest: twist a simple loop of the working yarn and pop it onto the needle, one loop per stitch needed. It’s not the prettiest edge, but mid-work edges are nearly always hidden or worked into later.
Count your cast-on stitches before you knit row 1 — and on a big cast-on, count in tens and pop a marker every 20 stitches as you go. Our footy ball cushion starts from just 3 stitches, but a blanket’s 200 deserve exactly the same care, because a wrong count found at row 3 costs an evening.
Work the first row patiently: it’s the fiddliest row of the whole project, especially into a long-tail edge where every stitch sits twisted the same way. From row 2 onwards you’re simply knitting — and a tidy cast-on pays you back at the very end, when the piece needs no sewn edge to hide behind and the foundation still looks crisp.

Patterns that use it

Cricket Test Vest and Baggy Green Beanie Knitting Pattern | Cable Knit Vest PDF, Green & Gold, Aussie, Digital Download

Outback Harvest Women's Sock Set Knitting Pattern | Thick Knee-High Socks, Gloves & Beanie PDF

Aussie Baby Booties Vol 2 | 12 Knitted Baby Bootie Patterns PDF

Aussie Sports Tissue Box Covers Vol 3 | 12 Knitted Tissue Box Cover Patterns PDF

Footy Ball Cushion Knitting Pattern | Aussie Rules Football Cushion PDF, Tan with Cream Laces, Digital Download

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Common mistakes

Putting the long tail over your forefinger and the ball yarn over your thumb, swapped around. The cast on still forms — but every stitch is built from the measured tail, and it runs out long before you reach your count.
Miscounting the slip knot. In most cast-ons it counts as your first stitch; count it twice — or not at all — and every row afterwards is built on the wrong number.
Skipping the count on a big cast-on because the first fifty felt right. A wrong count found at row 3 costs an evening; a marker popped in every 20 stitches costs seconds.

Tina’s tips

Wrap the tail around the needle ten times to measure for ten stitches instead of guessing with a ruler. It’s the quickest measure I know and it has never once left me short on a blanket.
Making a pair — booties, socks, gloves? Jot down the tail length and method you used for the first one before you put it down. Second pieces cast on from memory a week later have a way of coming out a size proud of their mate.