Cast On Too Tight?

When working any cast on that’s based on the Long Tail Cast On method, I have a tendency to do it too tightly. How about you?

If your cast on is tight, going up a needle size or casting on over two needles does not correct the problem. It only makes a tight foundation edge immediately followed by a row of looser, sloppier stitches. The way to loosen up the cast on is to put more space between each stitch.

You can see on this swatch that the lower edge is narrower than the rest of the swatch. This is due to a tight long tail cast on. The yarn that goes around the thumb is pulled too tight and creates a smaller loop than the new stitches on the needle.

Method 1: Using finger or thumb as a spacer

Place a finger or thumb in front of the last stitch cast onto the right needle …

… and hold it there while casting on the next stitch. The finger acts as a spacer, introducing distance between the stitches.

• The space between stitches can be variable with this method and requires practice to create an even cast on.
• This requires a longer tail than you may be used to using. See Estimate Tail Length for Cast On.

Method 2: Double Needle Cast On

Check out my Double Needle Cast On tutorial for a long tail cast on that introduces a controlled and measured amount of yarn that goes into that foundation edge, eliminating the tight edge.

In a tight cast on, that foundation edge is basically being worked at a different gauge than the rest of the knitting. By using a second needle to control the size of the loop in the foundation, the tight cast on is solved.