How to work the cable cast-on

The cable cast-on is useful if you want to cast on several stitches at the beginning or end of a row. I’ll show you how to work this cast-on.

how to work cabled cast on donnarossa

The result of this cast-on is a firm edge and a tidy appearance. The cable cast-on is a useful technique for adding stitches in the middle of the project, as it uses only the end of the thread. This is useful if you want to add stitches at the end of the row or make a single row buttonhole.

The cable cast-on has these advantages over looping:

  • the meshes are more elastic (but not as elastic as the cross-stop)
  • they are easier to knit

However, I don’t recommend this cast-on technique at the beginning of a piece of knitting. The cast-on is not as elastic as the longtail cast-on. It’s suitable for sideways knitted sweaters or to close the neckline.

Cable cast-on – made easy

In my video, I’ll show you step by step how to work the cable cast-on.

Cable cast-on in 5 steps

how cabled cast on wie maschen aufstricken donnarossa schritt step 1

Step 1
Take the needle with your work in the left hand, as you would start a new row. Insert the right needle in the first stitch on the left needle as if to knit and pull the new stitch through.

how cabled cast on wie maschen aufstricken donnarossa schritt step 2Step 2
Slip the new stitch back to the left-hand needle knitwise.

HINT: Work stitches loosely to facilitate inserting the needle in between stitches.

how cabled cast on wie maschen aufstricken donnarossa schritt step 3Step 3
Insert the needle between the 2 stitches on the left-hand needle and wrap yarn around.

how cabled cast on wie maschen aufstricken donnarossa schritt step 4Step 4
Pull a new stitch through.

how cabled cast on wie maschen aufstricken donnarossa schritt step 5Step 5
Slip this new stitch to the left-hand needle knitwise.

Repeat steps 3-5 as many times as needed.

HINT: If you knit a row / round over it after the cable cast-on, it can happen that the selvedge stitch forms a hole at the transition to the new stitches. To prevent this, knit the former selvedge stitch through the back loop.

Do you need a pattern to practice this technique?

As you can see, you can use knitting on for many purposes.

I like this way of cable cast-on. Some people only repeat steps 1 and 2 in this cast-on. However, this leads to the fact that the cast-on edge is not firm and doesn’t look beautiful. It also makes it more difficult to pick up stitches along this edge.

Have you ever done stitches before? What has been your experience so far? Have I possibly forgotten something?

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