tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5855814526345582865.post6184423942373697019..comments2024-03-27T23:02:13.194-07:00Comments on What To Knit When You're Expecting: Knit ConfessionsNikki Van De Carhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17877527952720755130noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5855814526345582865.post-63644141879619891412009-07-07T06:22:38.672-07:002009-07-07T06:22:38.672-07:00For sock weight yarn, this seems to work fairly we...For sock weight yarn, this seems to work fairly well: leave a few inches of yarn, then start wrapping the ball yarn around the needle as many times as you need cast on stitches. Use that end point as the starting point for your long tail cast on. I tried doing the same thing with heavier yarn, but that didn't work. I'm not sure why. (Maybe it was just me.)<br /><br />A friend suggested using your hand to elbow for about twenty stitches. Wrap it around like you're skeining; one full wrap is forty stitches. This seems to work better on worsted weight yarn; on sock yarn, I have a mile of tail left. (And, as my friend said, if you use your forearm, you're never without your measuring tool. Or if you are, you have bigger problems than your cast on.)<br /><br />I'm trying to think if I've ever used long tailed cast on while there was something already on the needles, and I don't think I have. I'm not actually a very experienced knitter; I knit sock after sock after sock with the occasional mitt in between. So I don't want to say it's not possible, because someone will just tell me how wrong I am, but I've never tried it. I'm pretty sure I've always just increased with m1, kfb, or picked up whatever stitch was handy.Jodi Meadowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11796496740054225283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5855814526345582865.post-22724247681536365002009-07-07T05:56:51.105-07:002009-07-07T05:56:51.105-07:00No kidding about the extra tail--in my readings, i...No kidding about the extra tail--in my readings, it said "a tail three times as long as the length of your cast-on row," but frankly I can't always visualize what 140 sts cast on in various needle sizes is going to be, much less multiply it by three. <br /><br />How on earth do people deal with that? Also, and this is possibly a dumb question, can you use long tail when you're casting on more sts when you already have some knitting on the needle (i.e. when casting on straps for booties and the like)?Nikki Van De Carhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17877527952720755130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5855814526345582865.post-72191462766852617662009-07-06T19:27:24.843-07:002009-07-06T19:27:24.843-07:00Huh.
I don't think I've ever checked for ...Huh.<br /><br />I don't think I've ever checked for gauge, I leave mistakes in if I can fiddle enough to keep the stitch count right, I never thought of pulling loose stitches, and I think I made swatches when I was first learning how to knit, but never since.<br /><br />I suspect most knitters are just like you! Though...long tailed cast on. I hadn't thought that one was an issue, but I'm glad you got it! If it makes you feel any better, the other cast ons make me flee in terror. I managed provisional cast ons for my love of socks and the desire to do toes up, and I think I did a knitted cast on once, but I think the pattern warned me there would be dire consequences if I didn't follow the instructions; I immediately forgot how to do it. :)<br /><br />When casting on with the long tail, though, I usually have to do it about fifty times, because either I have too much tail left over, or not nearly enough. *sigh*Jodi Meadowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11796496740054225283noreply@blogger.com