Cast on for a lace shawl?

How-to Questions
1

Hello,
I am going to make a shawl out of the book “Folk Shawls,” and it recommends a “cable cast on.” I find this cast on kind of tight. Since the shawl starts and ends w/ garter, can’t I just do a long tail on a size larger needle or a knit on cast on (or whatever the one is that starts w/ a slip not, like cable cast on, and which you make small loop, twist the stitch and slip it from right to left needle)?

Thanks! I’m using laceweight yarn and circular size 5 needles, 24", so maybe going up a size isn’t an option because I don’t want to buy another set of needles just to cast on.

thanks!
ZooZooB

2

You can do the knit cast on. The trick to keeping a cable CO loose is to not pull the yarn. Keep the 2 sts well up on the shaft of the L needle so you can put the whole R needle through them, not just the tip. Wrap the yarn around it loosely and bring it through to put on the needle. [B]Don’t pull on the yarn[/B], keep it loose enough so you can push it up on the needle and able to get the R needle in between the sts easily. Just don’t tug on the yarn at all.