A Knitter Skill Unlocked: the Tubular Cast-On (with 1x1 ribbing)

Happy fall! I'm am literally a couple of inches away from finishing one of my twin's Flax Light sweater, but couldn't resist the charm that pumpkin spice yarn had to offer, so I've decided to have a "screw it!" type of attitude with project monogamy and just cast on for my adult Flax Light sweater.

I've heard on podcasts that tubular cast-ons are the way to go for ribbing. Not only is it stretchy, but the folded edge makes it look clean and professional looking. I watched Eunny Jang's video and have followed the instructions to a "T," even though it started my ribbing off with a purl stitch (I later moved the last knit stitch to the beginning of the round because I'm OCD'ing about keeping my ribbing 'k1,p1'). Side note- Eunny Jang's blog (she's stopped blogging on her personal site ever since she was offered a job at Knitting Daily) inspired me to create this blog in 2006...

In a nutshell: the process involved knitting stockinette st from waste yarn for several rows, knitting from your main yarn for several rows, and after picking up the first st bumps from your main yarn (see the video for this)...you CUT away the waste yarn. Eek!!

So, for your entertainment, I have documented my first time casting out Tubular Method:

4 waste yarn stockinette rows and 5 main yarn rows before tubular effect. You cast on half the amount needed.

You purl a live st, then pick up the first main color "bump," until you have double the cast-on amount.

So far, so good!

The whole needle completed! Time to grab the scissors! Eek!

You cut away the waste yarn underneath.

It acutally looks more like this mess.

You join the round, which will leave you with this nice little gap. I just sewed the waste yarn into it and it closed it right up. Next time, I will try to join the waste yarn in the round right off the bat.

And that's all folks! It was pretty painless and nothing unraveled. Just double check before you make the first snip that you have knit into ALL of the bumps from that main color's first row.

I'm onto the yoke now. Have yourself a great weekend!