Life Lessons of the Long-Tail Cast-On

Apr 15

The very first cast-on I learned was the long-tail cast-on. To this day, it remains my go-to cast-on unless another cast-on is needed for my design or is called for in a pattern I'm making.

PRE-GAME WARM-UP

My mom wasn't an advanced or experienced knitter, but she knew this cast-on. I've come to not consider this a beginner's cast-on. Moving the needle under and over the yarn and then looping with the thumb can be overwhelming to a newer knitter. It was probably the only cast-on she knew so that's what she taught me.

My comfort cast-on

I later learned more basic cast-ons such as the backwards loop cast-on and the knitted cast-on. While these can be faster and easier to do, I kept going back to the long-tail cast-on. I found comfort in this cast-on, and it's a good, general-purpose cast-on. It's flexible, it provides a good foundation for my knits, and it's taught me life lessons and shaped how I approach knitting and designing.

Pre-internet

As a young knitter, I pondered this cast-on for a long time. The beginning of my knitting didn't look right, at least not for perfectionist me. I didn't have knitting resource books, I didn't know other knitters, and the internet was a couple decades away from becoming a thing.

For the most part, I was left to my own devices. I figured out and learned by trial and error, repetition, studying the stitches and movements to execute them, stepping back to process, and trying different things.

After all, it was just yarn. If it didn't work, I could rip it out and start over.

AT THE PLATE

So what about this cast-on didn't look right to me?

The frown 🙁

I was taught to cast on using two needles. My cast-ons were always too tight, leaving a frown at my cast-on edge. I didn't know if this was "normal" or "supposed to be" how it looks, but I didn't find this appealing at all. If I was making a rectangular scarf, I wanted it to be a perfect rectangle - two sets of straight, parallel sides!

I also didn't like that my first row of stitches was taller than the other rows of stitches.

There had to be a way to fix both of these problems so I set off to find solutions.

The process

The first thing I tried was using two larger size needles. Larger needles, larger stitches = looser cast-on, right? This made the first row of stitches even taller, as I suspected it might, but it definitely didn't make the frowny edge go away. This was even worse!

This led me to wonder, did I really need to cast on using two needles? Was this a knitting rule and a knitting power would somehow know if I didn't use two needles? Would I get in trouble with the knitting power?

I tried casting on with one needle. It made the first row of stitches shorter so they were the same height as subsequent rows. Hooray! But my cast-on was still too tight. I was happy one problem was solved, but the frowny edge was still a problem.

When I was taught this cast-on, I was shown to put each cast-on stitch right next to each other. It wasn't actually said, but that's what I saw so I did the same when casting on.

So. What would happen if I didn't put the stitches right next to each other and put a little bit of space between each cast-on stitch? Maybe that would solve the too-tight problem.

The "aha" moment

I tried that, and it was better. I still got the frown, but the frown wasn't as deep.

What if I put MORE space between each stitch?

Success! There was no longer a frown, and I was able to make my perfectly rectangular scarf.

Now, just doing the cast-on, one doesn't know if you'll get the frown or not. It takes a few rows to know for sure. This was a lot of casting on, knitting, assessing, ripping, repeat. And I needed to remember what I did each time so I could do the same thing again if I liked the result and not do the same thing again if I didn't like the result.

I eventually got a feel for the tension and how much space to put in between each stitch as I cast on without needing to constantly cast on, knit, assess, rip, and repeat.

The cause of the frown understood

I came to understand that the tension and the technique in the way I was casting on didn't match the tension in my knitting. My cast-on tension was a lot tighter than my knitting tension, and the lack of space between cast-on stitches contributed to this problem. No space between stitches means there's very little yarn between each stitch. Without this small amount of extra length, there was no hope in being able to block it out either.

The tension held by the cast-on was being released with each row I knit. There was a steady widening of my knitting as I knit more rows, but the cast-on edge stayed static. There was no space and almost no length of yarn between stitches in the cast-on edge to be able to adjust to my knitting tension. This is what causes the frown at the cast-on edge.

What did this whole process teach me about life and knitting? Several things, some of which I didn't truly understand until I got older and really dived into knitting.

You can change it

Just because I learned to do something a certain way, it didn't mean I had to keep doing it that way if it wasn’t working or if I was unhappy with the result. It's yarn and two needles. I can make it turn out how I want it to turn out.

I guess this also explains the appeal of being a designer?

Who is controlling who?

If I do something and think about what I'm doing while doing it long enough, I can start to understand the mechanics and the why. Anyone can.

I eventually figured out how to tink (or unknit) and to ladder down to correct mistakes by myself (remember, no internet and YouTube back then). I didn't have to rip every time I wanted to fix something gone awry.

The process of doing something and being able to step back and think about what I was doing, how I was doing it, and then having several light bulbs go on was empowering to a young person. I didn't have to rely on someone else, I was perfectly capable of understanding something and solving a problem.

This was probably my first lesson in me controlling my knitting and not letting my knitting control me. I can control the result, and this thinking has carried over into my design process.

A good foundation

Taking the time to set up a good foundation will always be worth it in the end. We know this applies to life. It also applies to knitting! Paying attention and taking care in doing the cast-on sets up your knitting for success.

POST-GAME WRAP

While the things I learned about the long-tail cast-on didn't blaze any knitting trails and aren't anything other knitters didn't already know, I wanted to share the learning process I went through and what I learned through that before knitting groups and the internet.

Patty Lyons has talked about the long-tail cast-on extensively and has several videos. I recently came across this video by Cat Bordhi where she sums up a lot of what I learned. It felt pretty good knowing I reached the same conclusions as these industry icons!

Here are some of my favorite tips for the long-tail cast-on, and some can be applied to casting on in general:

Put some space between each cast-on stitch. This increases the amount of yarn between each stitch and allows the cast-on edge to be flexible and to adjust to your knitting tension.
Just like how we try to maintain consistent tension as we're knitting, this is also important when casting-on. This will help the stitches to be even which contributes to the solid foundation you're trying to establish for your project when casting on.
If you notice uneven tension or a mistake in your cast-on, don't be afraid to undo those stitches and do them again. It's better to take the time to establish that good foundation than to have second thoughts or that nagging feeling later. Those mean only one thing: having to consider ripping out and starting again.
Allow the tail to untwist periodically as you're casting on. If the tail becomes too twisted, this will create twists in the cast-on. To untwist the tail, hold the needle out, and let the tail dangle to untwist. If you see twisted stitches, you can undo the stitches and cast them on again.
Place a stitch marker every X number of stitches to keep track of the number of cast-on stitches. This can be every 10 or 20 stitches, a number of your preference, or according to the number of stitches in a stitch pattern repeat. The markers can be removed while working the first row if you don't need them.

The long-tail cast-on can be a bit fiddly, but it produces a beautiful and structured cast-on edge while also being flexible. These qualities make this a good, general-purpose cast-on option.

Take your time with this one and don't get discouraged if you have to start over a few times. With purposeful practice, it will become more comfortable, and you'll establish a process that works for you. You'll be happy you took the time to set up a good foundation for your knitted piece.

Maybe some of these cast-on tips are new-to you, or you may have come across these in your knitting journey. If you have a tip to share, please do that in the comments!