Casting on?

#1

The learn to knit book i bought only shows the backward loop cast on. i though i was a terrible knitter because everything i was knitting came out all stretched out, my ribs had no elasticity, and my first row looked like a blind person knitted it, and i could not maintain any decent tension in my work.

with frustration and no internet access, i started a cast on out of a crochet chain. to my surprise, what i was working on started to look like an actual piece of work, not a mangled row of ackward stitches.

this morning i decided to do more research oncasting on, and found that there is more than one way to cast on.

what i did last night was to crochet a chain of 192 then i fed the chain onto my knitting needles through the single loop on the chain. while it gave me cleanliness and tension in my rows, it added a bottom edging that looked almost like the knit bindoff.

i also got through my whole second row of the pattern i was working on only to find out i misread it and had to frog the whole thing…

i guess i could continue in my “devised out of frustration” method, but are there easier ways?

i have been crocheting for almost 20 years and i’m having an ackward time transitioning from one hook to two needles.

also how do you know if you are knitting continental or provisional?

TIA

#2

Have you viewed the videos at this site? Go to the KnittingHelp.com home pace and look at the videos. The have videos to teach casting on as well. (Several methods to choose from)

Anyway you can watch and see what knitting method you use from wathing the videos.

knit2btied

#3

Courtney, there is a crocheted cast on. Congratulations on figuring it out for yourself. I can think of five different types of cast ons, but the one I think is most used, although I may be wrong, is the long tail cast on. It’s very stretchy, so good for socks, hats, etc.

I’ve only been knitting for a short time, after 30+ years of crocheting. You’ll get the two needle thing, and probably fall in love with the fabrics you can make.

#4

Welcome to KH!

There are many ways to cast on and backward loop is not the best one for starting a project. It’s often taught to new knitters because it’s easy, but the most commonly use one is probably long tail. Here’s a few links to Cast On methods.
http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/cast-on
http://www.knitpicks.com/content/index.php/cat/casting-on/

Crocheting a chain and knitting from those stitches (if done properly) is one method of provisional CO. A provisional CO is used when you want to pick up the stitches from the start of your knitting and go the other way. It’s not a knitting method. English knitters hold the working yarn in their right hand, continental knitters hold the working yarn in their left hand. Regardless of what you may hear or read, it’s just personal preference. I was a crocheter before I knitted and I prefer to knit english with the yarn in my right hand even though it’s contrary to crochet methods. Do what works for you and is most comfortable.

#5

the yarn i was working with is very thin, and crochet was all i could think of to keep everything where i wanted it.

i love the ease of crochet, and the way on some projects, you really don’t have too much thinking (especially when i need to realx) to get a nice finished project.

BUT:

I love the way knitting looks so neat and precise, thats why i decided to learn to knit.

i’ll have to look at the videos @ lunch- i almost wish i had brought a ball of yarn to work today to experiment with…

#6

there are depending on how you count them, 40+ ways to cast on!

there are styles with variations.

like Long tail --with –
[ul]
[li]german (aka twisted, norweginan) long tail[/li][li]2 yarn yarn long tail (for long cast ons)[/li][li]2 yarn/2 color long tail (for decorative edges)[/li][li]2 color Braided cast on (another decorative edge )[/ul](is 3, or 4 or 5 color braided cast on a different cast on (than 2 color braided? --there is where you find your + numbers!)[/li]
there is Knit & Purl long tail, there is open & closed long tail

there is double yarn (on tail) long tail…

and then there are other cast ons, (and many of these have variations too!)

there are noose/drawstring cast on’s, too, for starting circles…

there are picot cast ons, --several different types, some with hems, some with out.

and there are a whole bunch of edging stitches, like the latvian twist (long tail to start, + 5 rows of knitting, then a twisted edge)
that make an interesting cast on edge.

i did a 5 part series about cast on’s… part 1 starts here,
part 5 is about cast offs…

since i did that series last year, i have learned 4 more cast ons!

and there are many ways to end up with the same "apperance’–i know 4 ways to make a tubular cast on… all 4 look identical… but each one is done with a different process!