Picot Cast On

A picot cast on begins a project with a decorative flair that places little knitted nubs along the cast on edge. It’s a lovely addition to feminine projects.

The picot cast on is worked using the cable cast on.

Step 1:

A single slipknot on a knitting needle.

Begin with a slip knot on your left needle.

Step 2:

The second stitch is cast on using the knitted cast on. It’s not as confusing as it sounds.

Two needles crossed in the shape of an X inserted into a single stitch on the left needle.

Insert your right needle into the loop of the slip knot …

Hand holding left needle with a single stitch and right needle has just pulled a loop through that stitch while creating a knit stitch.

and wrap the yarn around the needle as if to knit. Pull the stitch through the slip knot stitch but don’t remove the slip knot stitch from the left needle.

Both right and left needles are crossed and going through the same stitch as it's being transferred from right to left needle.

Transfer the newly created stitch onto the left needle.

Hand holding left needle with two stitches on it.

You now have two stitches on the needle.

Step 3:

Now you may begin the cable cast on in earnest.

Right needle inserted between two stitches on left needle.

Insert the empty right needle between the two stitches on the left needle.

Right needle with stitch on it that was created from between two stitches on left needle.

Wrap the yarn around your needle as if to knit and pull the stitch through to the right side on your right needle.

Both right and left needle inserted in same stitch as it's being transferred from right to left needle.

Transfer that newly created stitch onto the left needle.

Step 4:

Repeat Step 3 until you have as many stitches as you need …

Five stitches on left needle in a jumbly mess.

… in this case, five stitches.

Step 5:

Now comes the picot part of the cast on.

Right needle with two knit stitches and left needle with three stitches.

Knit two stitches.

Step 6:

Right needle has one stitch after working a bind off; left needle has three stitches.

Slip the first stitch over the second stitch which basically binds it off.

Step 7:

Right needle, with one stitch on it, is inserted purlwise into the next stitch on left needle.

Slip the next stitch purlwise from the left needle to the right needle.

Step 8:

Left needle is inserted into second stitch from end of right needle, preparing to pass it over last stitch in a bind off.

One stitch remains on right needle with a clump of stitches just below it created by casting on and then binding off a few stitches; left needle still has remaining cast on still on the needle.

Then bind off that stitch.

Step 9:

Eleven stitches cast onto a needle with three picot bumps; there are little spaces in the cast on where each picot bump is created.

Return the last stitch to the left needle. One picot bump completed.

Step 10:

Blue picot cast on with four stitches between them and a garter stitch ridge above it, followed put a wide band of purple garter stitch and then stocking stitch.

Using the cable cast on, cast on 6 stitches (according to my pattern instructions).

Step 11:

Repeat Steps 5 to 10.

Knitting on the needle with a blue picot cast on with long picot bumps and six stitches between them.

You may alter the space between the picots by casting on more or fewer stitches. You may also alter the size of the picot by binding off more stitches. My pattern uses two-stitch picots separated by four cast-on stitches (2 + 4 = 6 sts to cast on after the picot bump). If you wanted three-stitch picots separated by six stitches then you would cast on nine stitches (3 + 6 = 9) between the picots (as in the photo above).

Both One! Two! Three! and Four! Five! Six! patterns provide the option to customize the hem, cuffs and neckband with a picot edge. The picot edging on the hem and cuffs is created using the Picot Cast On while the neckband edging uses the Picot Bind Off.

Interested in a discount for getting both patterns? Put them both in your shopping cart and 50% will automatically be deducted from the second pattern.