Beginner Knitting Tutorial: Long-tail Cast-On

The long tail cast on is THE cast on method. It’s stretchy, it’s simple to do. If I can only choose a single cast on method, that would be it. It works well whether you’re knitting flat or in the round. In this video, I will show you how I do it. I always use gauge needle to do my cast on instead of going up a needle size. You just need to make sure that your CO stitches aren’t too tight and slide easily on the needle.

How long does the tail need to be?

The exact length is 2.5 times the length you need to cast on (I’ve used this CO method a zillion times, trust me on this), that would leave you only a few centimeters at the end. If you prefer to stay on the safe side, use 3 times the length you need to cast on.

Happy Knitting!