There’s a ton of cast on types to choose from. As a beginner knitter, learning any cast on is a feat! Now, I learned from a book back when YouTube was just for watching music videos. I find that I fear YouTube for beginners because there isn’t a right or wrong cast on to use to get started, and you could easily start learning one cast on and then find yourself watching a video for an entirely different cast on. You do you boo, just remember to be consistent so if you start with one cast on, you stick with that cast on until you are done casting on.
Personally, I’ve found that one of these three cast ons will generally work for most beginners. Pick the one that makes the most sense to you!
I like certainty and less guesswork. So I personally like cast ons such as the Knitted cast on or the Cable cast on. Long Tail cast ons have a bit of mystery. You need to plan how much yarn you need in order to cast on the number of stitches you need. Not my cup of tea. There are tricks to it, but that’s not what this post is for.
When you first start knitting you really just need to practice the knit and purl stitches. Casting on and binding off are the smallest percentage of a project in that you do a cast on once and a bind off once per project, but in between you will be knitting/purling who knows how many stitches.
So sometimes, instructors may cast on for you while you get the hang of knitting and purling. Once you have that down a Knitted cast on will make more sense. If having someone cast on for you is not an option though, picking a simple cast on to get started will help. Picking the right cast on for the project, comes later on through practice. As you learn to knit it’s good to pick projects that help you to skill build and if you’re not sure what comes next, this is when your knitting group should come in clutch. As you knit, your skill building helps you to know what cast on would work best with your project and also that some cast ons will work well enough with the majority of the projects you do.
If you want to just jump in to it already, I have a playlist on Youtube: Learn to Knit that includes casting on, the knit stitch, and binding off. I haven’t gotten around to making my own videos as the internet is already fully stocked! I am a fan of VeryPink Knits for all knitters as her videos follow a consistent format and you can skip around for reference as needed.
Knitted Cast On
Cable Cast On
Long Tail Cast On
