Provisional Italian Cast On

About this technique


This video knitting tutorial will help you learn how to knit the provisional italian cast on. This method of starting a project is great for keeping live stitches at the beginning of your work so you can pick them up later to knit in another direction. It’s also a good technique if you want to graft two pieces of fabric together, like for an infinity scarf.

[VIDEO] How to do this technique


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Technique Instructions


Step 1: Take you wast yarn and your working yarn and make a slip knot as if they were one strand.

Step 2: Hold the knot of the slip knot and your knitting needle in your dominant hand, and spread out the waste yarn and working yarn with your thumb and forefinger. Make sure the wast yarn is on top and the working yarn is on bottom.

Step 3: Take your knitting needle and move it down between the two strands of yarn and under the working yarn.

Step 4: Continue moving the needle up and around, over the waste yarn.

Step 5: Bring the needle back under the working yarn and pick it up, coming under the waste yarn to where you first began.

Repeat steps 3 – 5 until you have cast on the number of stitches required by your pattern.

Example Photos