How to Long Tail Cast On

Guide Note: How to Long Tail Cast On will walk you through the basics of this classic knitting technique.

Long Tail Cast On

In order to start knitting, the yarn needs to get on the needle—this is called casting on. There are many ways to cast on, but the one preferred for beginners is a long tail cast on.

Wrap the yarn around your thumb and pointer finger with the tail in the front and the working yarn (ball end) around the back.
Grasp both ends of yarn in the remaining three fingers.
Place the needle in the triangle of yarn that is formed.
Scoop the yarn from the top edge of the triangle and bring the tip of the needle in front of the yarn that is in front of your thumb. This will form a loop around the thumb.
Insert the needle into the loop from below.
Wrap the back yarn (the one coming from the left side of your pointer finger) around the needle counterclockwise.
Draw the back yarn you just wrapped around the needle back down though the front loop. (Photos 5 and 6 in the slide show below.)
Snug up the loops around the needle by pulling the needle up and the yarn ends down equally.
Repeat until you have the desired number of stitches on your needle for your project.

- If you don't see the slide show below, please visit this page to view the related images.

For more knitting tips and how to instructions, please visit Mahalo's How to Knit.