Knit cast on, purl cast on

help! i am just a beginner knitter and thought that i could make a baby sweater that is all in one piece. you have to increase for the sleves and it tells you to cast on an additional 24 stitches and then knit the entire row, cast on 24 more and purl the entire row and continue for 4 inches. i cast on the stitches and there is holes where they join the knitted or purled row. help!!!

Amy really came through! :cheering: She told me to use the cable cast-on instead of the backwards loop cast-on! Yippee! I am so excited to be able to work on this! :XX: