The Long Tail Cast On and Its Twisted Sister // Technique Tuesday

[@wiwoods4me]

Sorry Roxanne..being who you are I shld've known you wld include the answer to my previous post. I appreciate so much the history the mechanics and how you explain and show your videos. I cld listen to you all day. Be well and THANK YOU!

[@JustFluffyQuiltingYarnCrafts]

Thank you, Roxanne. This was amazing! ❤

[@bluejemm]

So comprehensive! Thank you so much❣️❣️

[@dianathorpe2280]

That is so cool. I will definitely use the last one for a wool sweater as I usually cast on the bottom rib in the round. Lots of stitches. Love it. Thank you!

[@dig4info]

Thank you so much for this video Roxanne. Not being able to any longer tension the tail end of the yarn properly against my palm when doing LTCO, I switched to the thumb method, and I tension the tail around my left little finger. But I didn't know how to work the twisted cast on using the thumb method. Then I found your video. This is terrific - all the various methods that were unfamiliar to me, and I've practiced them all and have settled on the Italian twisted as it is the one I found I can work most smoothly resulting in a neater cast on edge. I also like the Finchley cast on and will practice that some more. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into creating these videos so others can tap into your knowledge and skills and become more proficient knitters.

[@virginiamagann]

Thanks Roxanne ...again! You not only show us how to do a technique, you enrich the demonstration with variations on the theme. AND you even share a little mantra "always go out the same way you went in"...so simple...of course I do that, but I didn't even notice that I did. When I tried to explain to someone else I was not clear. I wasn't providing a hook to secue the information in memory. Its so much easier to remember a technique after watching your videos.

[@cindymitchell6525]

Thx for this great and detailed explanation of the long tail CO.

[@TheSuzberry]

All vids are worth watching and rewatching. Thanks.

[@cindyarbour5280]

Roxanne is so easy to follow. The best I have found. Thank you!!

[@lesliefatout4731]

The best demonstration/explanation of German Twisted Cast-on that I've ever seen! I've done it before, but the way you showed and described it helped me understand what is happening and why it may be used. Thanks, as always!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

You're very welcome!

[@ccpperrett7522]

Thank you Rox. Great tutorial and demonstration. I loved all the comparisons and the "what's happening" explanations.

[@gailstringer1158]

I should have watched this video first a couple of days ago when I spent an hour watching other videos trying to figure out how to do the "German twisted cast on:" Your videos make it so much clearer - thanks!

[@ladydiamondprisca]

I've always done the long tail cast on the way you do yours and was always confused why everyone was doing theirs differently. My high school English teacher, who was a French-speaking German nun born and raised in Spain and working in Chad at the time, taught me. For a long time I assumed that was the way everyone was doing it, until I came to the USA! 😊

[@beenakalra9792]

You are an amazing teacher with a vast knowledge of knitting I wish I could remember all that you teach us

[@KimberlyEllison-b2f]

Excellent video, so clear and helpful. Thank you!

[@valeriafaber3415]

This is exactly how my grandma tought me to cast-on. Now I use the slingshot method and I wasn't able to recall how I learnt it. So, thanks a lot! If of any interest, I'm from Italy. :)

[@amanneful]

Loved this one-stop-shop for cast-ons! Consider doing a similar one for bind-off techniques. Thanks, Roxanne. You're such a good teacher.

[@jenniferrich5292]

Wow! I’ve memorized both of these using the slingshot, but only now do I understand what I’m really doing!! Thanks for being so clear and breaking it down for us🥰

[@RoxanneRichardson]

You are so welcome!

[@gracefrank500]

Wow! I see lots of great comments here! This is what makes your videos are so effective. You've shown us why we do what we do. You framed your demonstration of the twisted cast-on around picking up the correct yarn placed in its surrounding loop position. It's clear, simple and precise. Before, for me, executing that cast-on was a matter of hopping through the right rabbit holes and picking up carrots, which is cute but not helpful. There always seemed to be more than one rabbit hole, and since all carrots are tasty, I tended to pick the wrong one.

[@denisenj7648]

I normally do the German twisted cast on, but just by rote, never really understanding what was happening. You explain things so perfectly I now really understand exactly what's happening and why. Thank you so much!

[@elysianfibres1642]

I've done the longtail CO and German twisted CO before but I never knew exactly what I was doing. Thank you for explaining this so thoroughly! Understanding exactly what's going on will help me to remember how to execute the technique. Thanks once again!

[@marjorieh8356]

Wow! For the first 14 minutes I was thinking “we’ll that’s not how I do the long tail cast on”, turns out I do the German long tail cast on. I never realised there were so many versions of the same thing. That’s what I love about knitting, there’s not really a “wrong” way of doing anything, just multiple different “ right” ways.

[@KateK31]

Thanks! Always grateful to you for your fantastic explanations!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Glad you like them!

[@TheManseHen]

Hi Roxanne! I've always been a fan of online videos for learning knitting techniques, but now that I live in a rural part of the country and have some health limitations that make it hard to get to the next nearest LYS, I am even more grateful for the helpful clearly illustrative (and well-demarcated toolbars are a boon!) videos such as you make! Thank you!

[@RoxanneRichardson]

I'm so glad that my videos are helping you access knitting techniques! :-)

[@sandraroper9866]

Thank you.the information on your vintage sweater was very interesting.

[@vwynnr]

Roxanne you are a wonderful teacher. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I am a new knitter and have been struggling with too tight cast ons, so will try a twisted technique for my next project.

[@tinekejoldersma]

I learned to knit from my gran. She learned me several cast on's fitting to the knitting. Fun is I never knew you called one Italian or German cast on. Love you as my next teacher Roxanne.

[@TheSuzberry]

I seem to be incapable of doing the long-tail cast on with untwisting the yarn on my left hand. Damn, you’re good!

[@jamies7899]

This was illuminating! Thank you!

[@anab570]

Hello Roxanne. Great video!!! I love all the different ways we can reach the same thing: cast on. Thank you. Greetings from Argentina

[@fujimama892]

Thank you for doing this video. I'm working on a Shibui Knits pattern that calls for a "rotated long tail cast-on". Shibui has a set of pictures on how they do it on their techniques page, but I hate it because my cast-on stitches are rotated on the needle and it is a nightmare to unrotate 157 stitches, especially when working with Shibui's silk cloud which is super fine and hairy! Yeesh! I used their method for the back cast on and it was a total mess. I'm going to use your method for the front being careful to keep tension loose and even to get the same effect. Again, THANK YOU!

[@andreasanford8814]

My favorite is the German Twisted Cast On as I think it looks neater and I have an easier time being consistent and seeing my consistency as I'm casting on. I learned it to make a Fimmel 5 color hat and I just keep using it for everything now.

[@123lauraj1]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I learned the sling shot method of the LTCO but found the twisted version confusing. Now I have a few more ways to do it for a stretchier cast on that make more sense to me. Your videos are so great!

[@mariaelliott7001]

Thanks. I only knew 3 CO, and never knew their name so thanks a lot for the tutorial 🙂

[@elspethmcgarey]

When I do the twisted thumb cast on I wrap the yarn round my thumb in the opposite direction to the untwisted method and form the new stitch in the same way as the untwisted method.

[@hazeluzzell]

The very first thumb cast on you did was the way I was taught

[@jenniferdoering2417]

I love your videos! I've learned so much. I do have a question. I can never decide which cast-on to use when. I'm sorry if I've missed a video on this topic. Can you help please. I'm trying to start a simple vest that is just basically two squares and entirely in stockingette. The pattern just says cast-on 33 sts. How do I best decide which to use without trying one, knitting several rows then deciding I don't like the bottom.

[@ginnaricci4547]

Hi 👋 !! For a top down sweater wish cast on is best to be stretchy enough ?? Thank you 😊

[@annanowak147]

That is definitely more ways to do LTCO that I've ever seen. But how to prevent the tail from untwisting? Is it even possible? I hoped one of these would solve it, but in the end all of them create the loop in the same way and I could see that the tail untwisted. If I cast more than ~100 sts I re-wist the tail every few stiches and it's really annoying.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

Relax your hold on the yarn tail and let it dangle. It'll retwist itself.

[@wiwoods4me]

Hi Roxanne. Are there benefits between the LT cast on untwisted vs twisted? That made sense I hope!

[@nancymcculley8674]

Hi, I really appreciate the difference between LTCO, and twisted “German” LTCO. especially noticing the flare you mentioned. Do you have a favorite for cuff down socks?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

I typically do use the LTCO for cuff down socks, particularly since my heel diagonal is larger than my leg is where the cuff sits. I have more practice controlling the tension, so it tends to be my default. It had been awhile since I spent time with the twisted CO (currently using it on an 1890s sweater), so I'm reacquainting myself with its charms and plan to try it on my next pair of socks, as well.

[@mkeller18]

I thought this was going to be about the yarn loosing or gaining twist as I'm executing the LTCO. I've always wondered if that is something others struggle with.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

That would be in this video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoulgauZn9KrgcU

[@mkeller18]

I'm working my way thru all your videos because I learn so much.... I hadn't gotten that far yet. I just watched it.... Thank you!

[@mariaelliott7001]

What is your preferred cast on or do you use different cast on’s based on the article you’re knitting?

[@RoxanneRichardson]

My go-to cast on is the long tail cast on, but I will vary that, depending on the particular project. If I'm doing k1p1 ribbing, I will often choose a tubular or alternating CO. My current project is an 1890s sweater, so I've chosen a twisted CO for it, because I wanted to use a CO method that was recommended by the company that produced the pattern, for a more "authentic" result. Not all projects start with an edge, so sometimes I use a provisional CO, closed cast on, or pinhole cast on.

[@patmillett8056]

Imagine having to "mirror-engineer" those for a lefty knitter.

[@RoxanneRichardson]

It's actually not that hard! The key is understanding what is actually going on (entering through the back, for example), in order to create a twisted edge. I just tried a mirrored continental LTCO and twisted CO and didn't have any difficulty, other than not getting great tension, since I'm not used to managing the yarn in that opposite way.