An I-cord cast on is a neat and tidy way to control and define an edge, like for a hem or neckline. Often, people tend to this detail after all the knitting is done by adding an Attached I-Cord, but an I-cord cast on gets you off to a beautiful start right at the beginning of the project… We like that! Here is a video that explains the technique for an I-cord cast on… Please let us know if you have any questions!

Click To See Video Transcript

Hi, I am going show you how to create I-Cord Cast On. An I-Cord Cast On creates this nice tidy I-cord at the edge of your knitting instead of working in attached I-cord at the end of your project, you work this I-Cord Cast On right at the beginning. You can use it for flat or in-the-round knitting. And here we’re going to explain both, but I’m going to demonstrate it on flat knitting. Let’s get started.

To begin cast four stitches onto your needle. If you’ll be working in the round, use a provisional cast on. Otherwise, a simple long tail cast on is fine. Now, knit those four stitches as usual, but at the end of the row, instead of turning your work as you normally would, you want to keep the same side facing you. Next, slip those four stitches back to the left-hand needle. Be careful when you do this that the stitches are not twisting, that they’re staying in the same orientation. Now, take the yarn from this far end of the stitches, bring it to the front, insert your needle like you’re going to purl, and purl that first stitch. Bring the yarn to the back. Here’s the tricky part. You’re going to find the stitch below the next stitch on the needle. Insert your needle into it, lift it up onto the left needle, and then knit into the back of that stitch. Don’t worry, we’ll show you that again. But right now what you’re going to do is just knit those three remaining stitches. So you can see that now instead of four stitches on your needle, you have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. So you’ve cast on one stitch.

To continue, you just repeat those same steps. You slip four stitches over to your left needle, 1, 2, 3, 4. You bring the yarn to the front. You purl the first stitch. You bring the yarn to the back, then you find the stitch below the next stitch, insert your right needle from the back to the front through that stitch. It can be a little tricky to get in there. Lift it up onto your left needle and then knit into the back loop of that stitch. Now you get to just knit three.

Let’s take a closer look at that increase. First to identify the stitch below the next stitch. You’re going to look for this little V. This is the next stitch on your left needle here, and the stitch below it is the V right here below it. Take your right needle and insert it through the right leg of that stitch. Moving from the back of the work to the front, lift it onto your left needle. Now it just looks like a stitch on your left needle and what you’re going to do is knit into the back of that stitch. That’s it.

You continue to cast on until you have the ultimate number of cast-on stitches that you want, plus three. So if you want 24 cast-on stitches, you’re going to want to count 27 stitches here on your needle. So then to finish your cast on, if you’re knitting a flat piece of knitting, you do what you’ve been doing, which is slip four stitches back to your left needle, 1, 2, 3, 4. And then you’re going to knit two together twice. So knit two together. Once knit two together twice, then you’re going to slip those two stitches back to your left needle and knit them together.

Now the thing to keep in mind when you start knitting is that this side that’s been facing you is the wrong side of the work. See these purl bumps here? This is going to be the purl side of a stockinette fabric if you’re working stock in net. So to start your knitting, you’re going to turn the work and knit a knit row.

I want to make a little note here of how you would finish your cast on if you were knitting in the round. I’m on straight needles here, so you have to use your imagination a bit. But to finish your cast on for knitting in the round, you will slip four stitches back to your left needle. You’ll bring the yarn to the front, purl one, bring that purl stitch back over to your left needle. It’s a little hard to grab. Got it. And then you’ll slip it onto a double pointed needle. That’s so you are ready to graft this end to this end. This would be a provisional cast on if you had been knitting for in-the-round knitting, and you’ll graph those two ends together for a nice, neat finish.

Want to give it a try? Our gorgeous Faceted Yoke Pullover, knit with our 100% merino wool, light worsted/dk weight Knitting Yarn, starts at the neckline with an I-Cord Cast On in the round. What a beautiful beginning!

I-Cord Cast On | Purl Soho

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