home | deutsch 

The beginning is easy
Every piece of knitting starts with casting on. There are various techniques for this. Long tail cast on is an easy way of getting a firm, elastic edge that goes with any pattern.
To ensure the knitting looks nice the cast on row should be worked evenly. So practise a little before you actually start. The cast on row must not be too tight, so that the first row can be worked easily. However, it must not be too loose, otherwise the rib will soon be out of shape. Depending on how you knit - more tight than loose - you can cast on using either one or two needles. The second needle is removed before you knit the first row.

Here's how it goes
Use the same size of needles to cast on as for the start of the knitting.
For every stitch you will need between 1.5 and 2.5 cm yarn, depending on how thick the yarn is. Then calculate another 20 cm so that the last stitches are easily cast on. If in doubt, always take more rather than less. With the remaining tail you can always join the side seam.

1. Wind the yarn round your thumb and index finger from front to back. The tail of the yarn is on your index finger	2. Hold both yarns with your ring finger and pinky and scoop up the taut yarn between thumb and first finger.	3. Insert the needle in the loop on your thumb and scoop up the loop from left to right.

4. Then put the needle to your index finger and scoop up the loop from right to left.	5. Then from above downwards through the thumb loop...	6. … pull your thumb out of the loop and pull both yarns tight.

The result is two cast on stitches. Repeat steps 3 - 6 until you have the required amount of stitches. A new stitch is formed each time.

Another tip
With long tail cast one small knots are formed at the bottom edge, which are similar to a purl stitch. Therefore, begin your work with a wrong side row. The straight edge of the wrong side is better for most patterns.

Knot edge when you start with a right side row.	Straight edge when you start with a wrong side row.