The Knitting Fiend

Yesterday, I cast on and knit the toe of my knitalong sock. I generally don’t close the toe until I finish, but I know some people will want to close the toe right away. Luckily, I have pictures I took when knitting the first sock, so I can show you how. It’s quick and easy!

After you finish knitting the toe, thread a tapestry needle with the dangling sock yarn. Insert the tip of the needle in and out of each stitch; double check to make sure you catch every one; see above left. Then snip the waste yarn and draw it out; see above right.

You’ll now have live stitches on a thread. Stuff that thread in through the hole, turn the toe inside out and pull tight.

Finally, weave the extra yarn in and tidy the toe. Perfectamundo!

Now that I’ve shown and explained how to close the toe after using a aste yarn provisional cast on, I’d like to answer a questions someone asked me at the forum. What’s the advantage to using a waste yarn provisional cast on when knitting a round toe. Well, I find two advantages. One is related to the “provisional” nature of the cast on; the other to the use of waste yarn.

So, the first advantage: When starting to knit a circle from the center (as for a round toe), any provisional cast on leaves live loops. If you run a thread through these loops, you can pull tight, eliminating the tiniest hint of hole in the center. Non-provisional cast ons tend to be difficult to close completely because the cast on edge tends to be bulky and inflexible.

Still, why waste yarn? There are other types of provisional cast ons that don’t require waste yarn, require less waste yarn and/or would seem to involve fewer steps. Some, like the crochet provisional cast on, you will rarely see me use it. Why? Because my 47 year old eyes are starting to need bifocals, and I find I need to squint to see the underside of the loops for that cast on.

There are other methods to work a provisional cast on all of which I call “really cool provisional cast ons that coordinated people can do”, you will never see me use. If you know the real names of these cast ons, you can google to find descriptions of these cast ons. And if you are fairly coordinated, you should try them. I have tried them, but find them difficult. Why? Because I am uncoordinated!

Ok, so how does the waste yarn cast on help with this lack of coordination issue? Well, when I cast on with waste yarn, I get to knit a few rows then start knitting. When these rows are present, I find it easy to avoid twisting the first round; I also find it easier to work the kfbs into stitches that are knit into a foundation. I also find it easier to handle the circular knitting after I have some stabilizing length on the needles. (And when knitting flat, when I try other methods of provisional cast on, the gauge of my first few rows is often different from the rest of the knitting.)

Does this mean you’ll prefer the waste yarn provisional cast on? Not necessarily. You may be more coordinated than I. You may have good eyesight. You may hate snipping the waste yarn. You may hate the thought of wasting a few feet of left over yarn.

So, if you don’t like this method of casting on, try another method. If you find one you like, stick with it. If you don’t like it, try a new method.

You know what they say, “To each their own.” (Or as my sister says, “That’s why there is vanilla and chocolate!”)