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Knitters, the provisional cast on is pretty great.

January 13, 2014 3 Comments

How to do a provisional or invisible kitting cast on

Cowls are such a popular & stylish thing to knit these days that I finally had to jump on the bandwagon with some Christmas knitting last month. The first thing I learned to do was something called a provisional cast on. Basically it’s a way to start a knitting project invisibly. It lets you leave stitches “active,” so at the end of your cowl, you can sew the starting end’s loops to the finishing end’s loops to form a scarf that doesn’t have a distracting seam. You can also do this by knitting in the round. Sometimes, though, knitting in the round doesn’t make sense for a particular project, and sometimes, you might not be a knitter at the point of knitting in the round yet. I think using the provisional/invisible cast on is easier than learning to knit in the round, for what it’s worth. :)

To do the provisional cast on, you simply have to begin by making a length of chain stitch that’s a few stitches longer than you’d like to cast on. You’ll be tossing this chain later, so you can just use some scrap yarn that’s similar to the yarn for your project. Since I’m making a cowl with bulky yarn and don’t own a big, fat crochet hook, I opted to make my chain with finger knitting, which you can learn to do here.

One side of your chain will have ridges on it (the item pictured first below), and the other will have V’s.

How to do a provisional or invisible kitting cast on

Grab your finished chain, and stab your knitting needle through one of the ridges on the non-V side of it.

How to do a provisional or invisible kitting cast on

Wrap your yarn over your needle as if you were knitting normally, and pull the yarn back through the ridge. Keep doing this until you have enough stitches cast on.

How to do a provisional or invisible kitting cast on

How to do a provisional cast on (video tutorial)

For folks who prefer video, here’s all that again, but in another format:

Grafting your ends

That’s it! When you get to the far end of your work, you’ll pull out the chain stitching from the edge of your work and sew those loops to the loops on the other end of your work using a kitchener stitch (a.k.a. grafting). Here’s a tutorial for how to work the kitchener stitch. :)

How to do a provisional or invisible kitting cast on

If my instructions aren’t quite clicking for you, I also like these provisional cast on tutorials, some of which use a different technique for accomplishing the cast on: The Purl Bee / knitty / knittinghelp.com (video tutorial)

Filed Under: How-to Tagged With: cast on, cowl, crochet, diy, infinity scarf, invisible cast on, knit, Knitting, provisional cast on

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Comments

  1. Judy Harris

    October 15, 2014 at 8:15 am

    I learned something new today…many thanks -I do a lot of knitting but I too thought Brioche Knitting involved underwater treading!!!! it gets cold here so, no underwater treading…consequently no Brioche Knitting…..Thanks you so much,again!!! Judy

    Reply
  2. nivia

    October 22, 2014 at 5:43 pm

    I am gonna do this, it’s great I didn’t realize I didn’t have to knit in the round. I can only find straight needles where I live and I haven’t really bought online much. Thanks

    Reply
  3. Elaine Eckart

    February 14, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    I have been knitting for lots of years, but never thought of this bright idea. Love it. Makes the finished project outstanding.

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the only thing to do is a Knitflix marathon! I hadn’t seen the latest season of Stranger Things and had a TON of knitting to do, so we decided why not make a day of it? For non knitters, this is a pretty accurate depiction of what a dream day looks like for maker types. (Plus or minus a cranky but cute house pet.) 
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Just making this for fun & to see how it feels to distill a yarn day into a short video like this. Big thank you to Jamie & Mariah for being my friends, even though they said “it’s okay if you don’t tag me in this.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 
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New on the blog today! This former Librarian revie New on the blog today! This former Librarian reviews three making-related books for kids, teens & adults. And there’s a copy of one up for giveaway too! 📚 
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To Make by Danielle Davis (@writesinla) with pictures by Mags DeRoma (@magsderoma) / Knitstrips (@ik_knitstrips) by Alice Ormsbee Beltran & Karen Kim Mar / This Long Thread by Jen Hewett (@jenhewett) 
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I’ll share preview page-through videos for these this week too, but for now the written reviews are at the top of handsoccupied dot com along with my search bar if you can’t find ‘em. All giveaway details are listed in the review post. 🤙🏻 
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I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitti I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitting kind of like some embroiderers do: I get (probably too) excited when the back’s neat and tidy. Are you this way? Is it just me? 
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Pictured is the wrong side of a large primary color intarsia swatch I knit for an upcoming design in @brooklyntweed Arbor. When I pulled it from my studio, I thanked my former self for talking the time to knit, weave in ends, & block a clean swatch already. As critical as they are, I’m excited to not have to make one today. I’ll advocate for swatching all day long, but I won’t pretend it’s like the funnest step in the process! 😆🧶
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