The long tail cast on (first one on the page) is by far my favorite cast on.  I find the knitting on and cable versions too tricky, I don’t like the way they look once knitted, and they’re too hard to maintain an even tension (for me at least).

Last week I started again on the My So Called Scarf (because the first version was stolen!).  I remembered that when I cast on for Version 1, I first tried the knitting on CO, decided I didn’t like it and opted for the old standard: long tail cast on.  The thing is, when you’ve cast on the proper number of stitches, they’re oriented so that the next row would be a purl row if working in Stockinette stitch.  If you’re doing a stitch like the herringbone one found in MSCS, you’re not going to want an awkward 1st two rows of Stockinette.

So what’s the solution?  Do the long tail cast on BACKWARDS!  The following is a tutorial for doing the long tail cast on backwards.  If you’re not familiar with doing it the regular way, go familiarize yourself with the very helpful video found on the knittinghelp website, which is found above.  This is rocket science, but I thought I’d share with the world a solution to something I’ve long had a problem with in knitting.

 This is your typical swatch knit using long tail cast on the regular way.  CO X sts, purl next row, continue in Stockinette stitch.  blah blah blah

And this is how you typically hold your yarn: 

Let’s switch things up a bit.  This time, the needle will be held in the left hand and the yarn will be in the right hand.  The yarn tail is still in the FRONT and the working yarn is in the BACK.

Then, start working the cast on as you would regularly.  Scoop the yarn tail from underneath:

Then scoop the working yarn from the top:

And pull through the yarn tail’s loop:

And tighten the newly-made stitch, but NOT TOO TIGHTLY.  Et voilà, you’ve made two stitches:

And just keep repeating that until you’ve got the requisite number of stitches made.  Remember, with the long tail cast on, you need to make sure the yarn tail is long enough to make X stitches.  Once you’ve got your stitches, the next row should be a knit row.  Just as with the regular version, the cast on row counts as your FIRST ROW.  The following knit row would be row 2.

Ok, now I think it’s time for me to get some sleep.  I’ll update soon with photos of stuff I’ve been working on in the past two weeks.  It’s exciting, I swear!  (Cosby sweater anyone?)