The Essential Guide to Knitting Cast-On Methods (For Beginners)

Casting on is an essential skill for all knitters! Learn nine basic cast-on methods that you can use in a variety of knitting situations, when you would want to use each one, and how to work each of them - as well as a bonus tenth method!
👩‍💻 Learn to READ your knitting and FIX your knitting mistakes with this six-part video course:
payhip.com/b/v...
Check out this playlist for more helpful knitting tips:
• Six Tips for Knitting ...
🥰 Support Nerdy Knitting: www.buymeacoff...
👉 I'M USING:
Knit Picks Double Pointed Needles
shrsl.com/2e0ha
Knit Picks Brava Bulky Yarn [colorway: Tranquil]
shrsl.com/2e0he
Double-Ended Crochet Hook Set
shrsl.com/2cmxd
📌 CHAPTER LINKS:
00:00 Favorite Cast-On Methods
0:54 Backwards Loop Cast On
2:09 Long-Tail Cast On (Thumb Method)
4:04 Long-Tail Cast On (Slingshot Method)
5:02 Knit Cast On
6:22 Cable Cast On
7:16 Alternate Cable Cast On
8:16 2x2 Alternate Cable Cast On
9:37 Crochet Cast On
10:55 Lace Cast On
12:08 German Twisted Cast On
_____________
▶️ RELATED KNITTING VIDEOS:
Knit Faster in 5 Steps
• Hack Your Knitting! 5 ...
Quick & Easy Fixes for Common Knitting Mistakes
• QUICK & EASY fixes for...
Five Stitch Patterns Every Knitter Needs to Know
• Five Basic Stitch Patt...
_____________
🧶 MORE HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR KNITTERS 🧶
Hire me to teach at your next online or in-person knitting event:
toniaknits.com...
Favorite Knitting Tools & Gear: toniaknits.com...
FREE guide - learn how to Read Your Knitting Stitches: toniaknits.com...
FREE Knitting Resource Library - toniaknits.com...
_____________
↓↓↓ Follow Nerdy Knitting on Instagram ↓↓↓
/ nerdy.knitting
Disclaimer: Some links shared above or in the video may be affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Nerdy Knitting is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
#nerdyknitting #knittingforbeginners #knittingtips

[@lisamcclure8737]

Brilliant tutorial for a very new knitter like me. At 53 they say it’s harder to learn new things but this has really helped! Thank you !

[@NerdyKnitting]

Glad it was helpful!

[@daveperry4006]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. I learned how to Knit so many years ago and have forgotten how to cast on. All the different videos on KZbin are confusing, and I do not want a long tail cast on. Your video introduced me to some new methods I would love to try and gives a great visual for the finished product as well as how to accomplish it. I really appreciate this video!

[@NerdyKnitting]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Louise-nh4sw]

Thank you so much! Not being confident casting on has kept me from starting projects. Your instructions are so clear and your voice is calming. 😘

[@NerdyKnitting]

I'm so glad you found it helpful! ☺

[@TreebeardsHome]

Perfect! Great visuals & instructions. Thank you for listening to your viewers questions so much that you make videos as professional as this. Have a great day. Blessed be.

[@NerdyKnitting]

Thank you! 😊

[@KC-nb3st]

Brilliant. Thank you for this tutorial. Excellent.

[@NerdyKnitting]

You're welcome!

[@karenwhite2601]

All my life I've only ever known cable cast on (I never knew it was called that). After about 15 years of not knitting I was searching youtube for patterns and saw videos where people were casting on differently. Now I know how many different methods there are! Thanks for this video tutorial, it is all clearly explained and so useful. I really like the look of the crochet cast on but haven't tried it yet.

[@NerdyKnitting]

I'm so glad you found it helpful!

[@Debbiegerm56]

I am not a beginner knitter, but I enjoyed your video and found it helpful. I have been wondering why the long tail cast on is so often recommended in knitting patterns. I find it easy to work, but I'm rarely happy with the result and usually go back to a knitted cast on. I realized, after watching your video, that I'm probably working it too tight. I like the cast on edge to match the bind off, so I usually do a bind off to match the knitted cast on, like Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off. I think I will try the crochet cast on as an alternative after watching this video. I can tell that you are a patient teacher and love your craft!

[@NerdyKnitting]

Thank you, Deborah!

[@amirahamilin]

Omg love ur video🥳. Very useful as beginner like me. Im a crocheter but wanna learn so much on knitting. N my fav method is crochet cast on 😊

[@adelinaprentice4703]

Oh my I've never tried the crochet cast on, that is awesome! I'm going to try it, thank you for this overview!

[@NerdyKnitting]

Glad it was helpful!

[@pc8863]

The German twisted cast on is not just more decorative than a standard long tail cost on. The extra twist gives just enough added stretch to make it great top down socks.

[@NerdyKnitting]

Very true!

[@fawnjenkins7266]

Saving this to refer back to for sure! Thank you!

[@bgummeson]

Very nice summary and demonstrations. I know you’re not a thrower, but I think it would be helpful to demonstrate how to do the knitted and cable cast ons by throwing, in addition to picking. Good for you for learning a new cast-on in response to your viewers! Your demo of the German twisted cast-on is really good. When I was learning it, there were very few good demos for the last movement. Your camera work was stellar in showing the entire process.

[@NerdyKnitting]

Thank you! I can knit with my right hand but it's not my go-to for teaching demonstrations - that is definitely something I need to work on!

[@lisalevine4663]

Thank u i felt u gave the best instructions for casting on and i really appreciate it❤

[@NerdyKnitting]

You’re welcome 😊

[@constancematthews3834]

LOL! I have no idea how I learned it, but I use the German Twist almost exclusively! Didn't even know there were more than two techniques! Ha! Thanks for the video.

[@NerdyKnitting]

Well, the others should be easy if you already know the German Twisted! 😁

[@fotinicharalambous374]

Very useful video. Thank you

[@karenpayne-du1oc]

Great video, thank you for the clear instructions🧶

[@NerdyKnitting]

Glad it was helpful!

[@helenmeehan2374]

Great video!! Thank you

[@bsfb3ar]

I always used German CO it is very stretchy but I don’t like the thick edge I like the look of Italian CO but can’t get Around it.

[@FaerieDust]

When I first got into knitting a few years ago, I somehow ended up on Russian knitting Instagram. I do not speak Russian 😅 But between the auto-translate function, the very thorough videos, and the charts, I've found some super pretty stitch patterns - and some very decorative cast ons! My favourite is translated to "French cast on", but I have no idea what it's called in, you know, any of the languages I actually know. (I don't know that all the posts are Russian, but they're all in Cyrillic script and the few I did look into closer were Russian (one lady has a shop in Moscow), but who knows - they could be a wild mishmash of languages and I'd have no idea 😅) Decorative bind offs are much harder to find, though, which is a bummer when I want to knit a top-down blouse but I'd also like the pretty decorative hem. Maybe I just need to look up what the Russian term for binding off is and search for that...

[@NerdyKnitting]

🤣 I'm laughing because my Instagram feed is also filled with Russian and/or Cyrillic script knitting stuff - and I LOVE it - so many fabulous techniques and stitch patterns. I've tried a few charts and, once you figure out the symbols, they aren't hard to follow!

[@FaerieDust]

@Nerdy Knitting I found a few guides to reading the patterns online, with the symbols translated. And, of course, there's always Ravelry if you get really stuck. I'm Kurdish-Swedish but learned to knit in English via KZbin, so I don't actually know Swedish terminology (or Kurdish, for that matter). I started knitting a Swedish sock pattern and got stuck on the very first line - I had to google what the cast on method was 😂 (it was a basic long tail, at least, so nothing too mysterious). It does get confusing to try to talk knitting with my mom though - she knows it all in Kurdish and Turkish, and more Swedish than me at least, but I only know the English... and now I'm starting to learn Russian charts before English ones, my brain is a mess 🙃

[@NerdyKnitting]

Oh, my! That's multi-lingual learning in action 😆

[@SarahAloof]

I prefer the normal knit cast on