The very first cast-on I learned was the long-tail 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.

A provisional cast-on is a temporary cast-on that can be undone later to leave live stitches that you can work with. You can cast on provisionally with any method using scrap yarn, but I love a crochet method. It’s straightforward to work and unzips easily to release the live stitches.