Long Tail Cast On

The Long-Tail Cast On is one of the most common and popular cast ons. It is an all purpose cast on that gives an attractive and elastic edge and works in almost every type of project. Because of its structure, this cast on creates the first row of your knitting – which is usually considered the wrong side of the work for stockinette stitch.

As the name implies it starts with a long tail – which can be a challenge for a knitter to figure out how long to make the tail before you start making stitches on your needle. A general rule of thumb for this length is 3 times the length you need to form the number of stitches to cast on. Some knitters wrap the yarn around the needle the number of times that equals the number of stitches. I’ve used both methods and both work fairly well.

The cast on starts with a slip stitch (some knitters omit this step). You then form a “slingshot” by holding the needle in your right hand and using the thumb and forefinger of your left hand so that one of the two strands wraps around the thumb and the other wraps around the forefinger, forming a “Y”. The tail strand should go over the thumb and the working yarn should go over the forefinger.

To form a new stitch, put the needle under and into the loop on the thumb, then go over the yarn on the forefinger and bring the strand through the thumb loop. Drop the yarn off the thumb and gently tighten the loop on the needle. Repeat until you have the desired number of stitches.

There are several variations of this cast on. I have included a link for the Alternating Long Tail Cast on, which provides a way to alternate knit and purl stitches for a ribbing and gives a moderately elastic edge.

Everything About the Long-Tail Cast On

Long-Tail Cast On in Pattern – Alternating Long-Tail CO

Related Post

Finished Chevron Scarf and Matching HatFinished Chevron Scarf and Matching Hat

I finished the hat to match the Chevron scarf during our snowstorm. I washed and blocked both the scarf and the hat. Since the hat is supposed to be a tam — I dried it over a large round platter:

ChevronHat2

However — once dried, the tam was too loose and too big!. So I dunked it in some water and threw it in the dryer — it’s made of superwash sock yarn. And I ended up with:

ChevronHat1

Which — when placed on the head, looks like a basic beanie hat with two-color chevron stripes. Not what I envisioned — but still a nice result. Now I need to wrap the scarf and hat and get it mailed off.

Fisherman’s Rib StitchFisherman’s Rib Stitch

I have just added Fisherman’s Rib to my Stitch Library. This is an interesting rib pattern that uses “knit 1 below (k1b). K1b is also used in the Bee Stitch and if you want more information on it, here are links to that information.

Post on Bee Stitch and Knit 1 Below

Bee Stitch Pattern

This ribbing pattern results in a fluffy, soft and warm ribbing that is similar to the brioche rib stitch. In fact, while researching Fisherman’s Rib, I found several places where it is described as a variation in the brioche technique. Nancy Marchand, author of Knitting Brioche, states:

“In the Netherlands, both brioche stitch and Fisherman’s Rib are called patentsteek. The method of working the stitch is different but the end result is the same.”

The main difference between the brioche stitch and fisherman’s rib is that you use yarnovers combined with slipped stitches to form the fabric in brioche and you use k1b to create fisherman’s rib. There are several different ways to make the Fisherman’s Rib stitch and I have included these in my Fisherman’s Rib Stitch instructions.

I have used fisherman’s rib to make several lovely warm hats. It would work well for a warm scarf or a cowl as well.  This stitch pattern will use approximately 30% more yarn than regular 1 X 1 ribbing and should be done on needles that are one to two sizes smaller than what you would normally use for the yarn you select.

There isn’t a lot of information on how to decrease or increase when doing fisherman’s rib, and it took me awhile to find ones that worked well for my hats. I will share that information in my upcoming posts.

FO: Choo Choo Hat for GSFO: Choo Choo Hat for GS

My GS is almost two and “Choo Choo’s” are one of his most favorite things at the moment. Now he got a train table and lots of trains and things to go with it for Christmas, but this Grandma just had to knit him a hat with a choo choo train on it. My first attempt was a little too tight, so I knit another a lit bit wider and it fit perfectly.

GS wearing his Choo Choo Hat
Since two year olds are always in motion when awake, it was a challenge to get him to stand still long enough to take his picture — But I was able to get one (and only one) good picture of him wearing his new hat.

Details: Knit with Paton’s Classic Wool in Blue, Red and Black on size US 7 needles. Pattern for the train is from “Patterns for Knitted Hats by Betty Lampen.