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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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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, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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A new YouTube tutorial is live today covering how A new YouTube tutorial is live today covering how to knit the Little Butterfly Stitch (aka Bowknot Stitch). It adds so much cute character to simple stockinette. Only a little funky to knit, and it packs a huge visual punch! 🦋 
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Find the video & written stitch pattern on the blog and YouTube, links are in bio. 
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#kpambassadorsfeb21 #sponsored
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Yarn: @kelbournewoolens Germantown in Baby Blue via @knit_picks. Needles: Prism Interchangeables, also from Knit Picks. 
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Pictured: a light blue swatch of Little Butterfly Stitch knitting on a pink background. A skein of yarn and a few stitches of knitting are nearby.
“You’re telling me words can be pronounced in “You’re telling me words can be pronounced in different ways and mean the same things?!” 👀 Posting this here, just to make it clear: when anyone says skayne, skeen, or skyne, it can be safely assumed we’re talking about a bundle o’ yarn,  a SKEIN. It’s not necessary to shame someone for using a word that is known to have MULTIPLE common pronunciations. 🧶
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Can you plz comment sharing how you say SKEIN and where you learned it? The OED happens to say SKAYNE, but it’s not a personal attack if someone says SKEEN and you say SKYNE or even Saskatoon. I’m legitimately curious. We don’t all knit or crochet the same way, and craft evolves a bit like language - it is passed on. There is so much value in having conversations about & embracing these variations! ✌🏻
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Pictured: A blond woman holds a skein of mustard yellow yarn up to her head like a phone, looking shocked. She’s wearing glasses & a knit sweater. 
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#handsoccupied #heidigustad #skein #yarn #yarncraft #knit #crochet #yarnaddict #knitincolor #soldotnacrop #language #englishisweird #oed #oxfordenglishdictionary
Sometimes my weekend projects involve hair rather Sometimes my weekend projects involve hair rather than yarn. Here’s the latest mediocre-but-improving result of my slow quest to learn to set vintage inspired curls. 💇🏼‍♀️ I’m hoping to be able to wash my hair less using a regular vintage set, but we’ll see if it ends up being practical. 😆 Hair frustrates me so much more than crafts! 
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Do you also style your hair using vintage methods? If you have any tips for vintage hair styling or good resources to share, please do!
I suppose this is one way to decide what yarn colo I suppose this is one way to decide what yarn color suits your pooch. 😆 Navy really might be Woodrow‘s color - what do you think? 
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Pictured: A medium sized, brown, senior dog asleep on a green bed. For some reason a donut ball of navy wool yarn sits on his head.
The first stitch tutorial of the new year is live The first stitch tutorial of the new year is live on YouTube! Diamond Brocade is a great knit+purl only stitch for beginners or anyone wanting a classic look for their knitting project. Find the video with a written stitch pattern on the blog or head directly to the video on YouTube. Both are linked in bio. ✌🏻 
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