My long tail cast on looks good. Then when I knit the first row there is a ‘loopy space’ between the cast on row and the first row of knitting. If I continue to do the garter stitch the rest of my knitting looks fine. On all of my scarves it is easy to pick out which end I started at because it looks awful…the cast off row looks fine. I have a digital photo of an example that I will try to attach here but not sure if I am accomplishing that correctly. Would really appreciate some help since I don’t have any knitting friends or local shop.
Cast On First Row looks awful
It looks kind of like you used the knitted Cast on which can do that at some gauges. One way to prevent the loops and holes is to knit the first row through the back loop of each stitch. That twists the stitch and tightens it up. Or if you used the backward loop CO, that can be loopy and loose too. Experiment with diffent Cast ons and ways of knitting the first row.
I would also so try a couple of different methods of cast on.
Often people find that they have difficulty keeping an even tension during their cast on. IT might be that you are casting on a little loose compared to how you knit. Try tightening it up a little.
I am using the long tail double cast on like the first one demonstrated in the videos on this web site. I tried the single cast on but it didn’t help. Tried knitting the first row into the back of each stitich which didn’t help. My cast on row looks so good to me…even and good tension…I am getting so discouraged because I just cannot start another project until I correct this!
Thanks for the two replies to my question. I have watched the Small Project video and cannot see that I am doing anything differently with my own knitting! But I always have the ‘loopy’ stuff between my cast on row and the first row. Looking through the Forum it seems that I must be the Lone Ranger in this regard?
It could be that you just have uneven tension on the cast on stitches and some are okay while some are loose. That’s really not uncommon, it just takes practice to get them even. Here’s something you can try - gently stretch the edge widthwise and see if some of the loose sts go away.
I tried your suggestion of knitting into the back of each stitch on the first row. Didn’t solve problem. You mentioned trying other methods of knitting the first row. What do you mean, what other methods? I’m getting desperate here.
It looks like your cast on stitches may be a bit on the loose side. What size needles are you using? It may help to switch to a needle one size smaller for your cast on and then use your regular needles to knit with.
Also, have you tried the Old Norwegian cast on in the video page? I have fiddled around with trying the various cast-ons, and that one produced a tighter cast on for me. It might be worth a try.
One more thought-this would be a bit time consuming, but may fix the problem- as you are casting on, after each stitch, give the working yarn a gentle tug to pull the stitch tighter.
And as Sue said, it takes time and practice to get a really even cast on. It will get better, really! 