Hi everybody,
I’ve made a lovely cap, but the cast on, which goes around the forehead, is too tight. If I rip it, do I just knit a regular cast-off, or is there something special I should do to give it the same stretch? Thanks loads for help!
Kay
It’s not easy to get a cast-on row out. It doesn’t just zip out like other rows. If you want to take it out, you should put a piece of yarn in a destination row above the cast-on and then cut the cast on off. Then you could bind off those stitches more loosely.
There is a tutorial/video on finding the destination row under basic techniques/more/fixing mistakes on the tabs at the top of the page.
I am not sure how to fix an already fo, but for casting on too tight, for about a year I held 2 needles together and pulled the other one out for the cast on. Just pretend you are casting on one, and pull out the other when done. very nice, loose cast on to work with
Or CO with a needle a couple sizes larger than what you’ll be knitting with.
do you have extra yarn?
if YES, start to undo cast on and cut the undone yarn (its so much easier to keep the undone cast on yarn/tail trimmed…)
As you undo, slip onto a needle (it doesn’t have to be the right size… you can use a smaller one. (in fact, its easier to use a smaller one!)
after undoing, and picking up the stitches, you’ll have 1 less stitch…
this is because when you ‘change directions’ you lose 1/2 of a stitch on each end…
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/ (the dash is the needle in right side up stitches…
but when you undo a cast on you have up side down stitches.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
(turn the image upside down, and its hard to tell the difference… (except you’ll see more clearly how you lose the 1/2 stitch on each end.
(so 100 stitches becomes 99 stitches.)
then just add yarn and cast off loosely…
Next time, think about your cast on before you start.
some cast ons are naturally stretchier… (long tail, Norwegian(aka german, german twist) and others are good choices… as is tubular, or channel islands…
hats are good places to learn cast ons (i know 35+!)
Not to many stitches to cast on for a hat, and since the cast on frames the face, a pretty one is important… (not just a stretchy one!)
most knitting books (and several magazines) have several cast ones… you can begin to learn the ones that work best for you.
I have a new knitting book, “Knitting Cuff-to-Cuff”, and the author never casts on in the usual sense. She starts every knitted piece with scrap yarn; she calls it “scrapping on”. She wants to be able to turn every beginning into a row of live stitches, if it turns out to be necessary or desirable later on.
I think she makes a good point. She casts on the scrap yarn by the simple looped method, knits a few rows, then starts in with the proper yarn for the project. She always uses a yarn of similar thickness and one that is not so fuzzy it will leave wisps on the piece. She also picks a strongly contrasting color.
However, even though I read this several weeks ago, I have started 2 projects since then without following her advice. Old habits die hard.