Cast on is the first step of any knitting project whether it’s a pair of socks or wide blankets. The cast on stitches lay the foundation of a project whether you are working on single-pointed, double-pointed or the circular needles. There is a proverb, “A good start makes the rest easier”. So, the right cast on makes your knitting project smooth and easy. There are many ways to cast on stitches and there is no right or wrong method. In this blog, we’ll take a look at the method of how to cast on with two knitting needles.
Many times, a knitting pattern asks for a two-needle cast-on or knitters use this for many reasons. Casting on stitches with two knitting needles means holding the needles in one hand and taking them as one. The needles can be of two sizes but make sure their difference is not more than 0.5mm or unit in US terms. The result is a much stretchier edge which gives upper hand for lace projects, a 2×2 rib stitch, and similar patterns. Also, for provisional cast on methods this works superbly. After you cast on, you can continue knitting with the needles of your choice or pattern instruction. Over the rows and round, the loose stitches will adjust.
Now, if you have not done this method, we have the step by step guide to cast on stitches with two knitting needles.
Step 1 – Make a slip knot and put it on both the needles. Make sure to leave a yarn tail that is around 5 times as long as your project should be wide. You can guestimate this or roughly calculate by wrapping yarn around one knitting needle and unravelling.
Step 2 – Keep the working yarn end behind the needles. Now position your fingers that you have a loop with the thumb holding the tail end of the yarn and forefinger holding the working end of the yarn leading to the yarn ball.
Step 3 – With the tip of the knitting needles, carefully draw a loop by going down through the slip knot and out. Cast on stitches as per as the instructions or your design. The two needle cast on will ensure that the stitches are not very tight to knit with but stretchy enough.
There is also another way to cast on two knitting needles of circular needles. This is instructed by patterns when it comes to knit very small circumference that cannot be accommodated on the knitting needle length.
For this method you hold the two knitting needles together but cast on stitches on different needles.
Given the right knitting needles and accessories, you can cast on stitches in any way. The smooth steel material of the needles of the Mindful Collection is great to knit with. With perfectly tapered tips the needles of the range are ideal for lace knitting projects. And our tutorial will be of great help whenever you knit with stainless steel needle tips.