Occasionally you may want the lovely little purl bumps to appear on the front of your needle as you cast on, rather than on the back. Here’s our tutorial video where we explain how easy the Long Tail Cast On, Purlwise is…

Click To See Video Transcript

I’m going to show you how to do a long tail cast on purlwise. But first, let’s take a look at what a long tail cast on knitwise looks like. When you do the long tail cast on knitwise, you get these dashes along the bottom edge of your needle on the front side, and on the back side of the needle you get these purl bumps. Now if you’re ever in a situation that you want the purl bumps to show up on the front of your needle as you cast on, you do a long tail cast on purlwise. Let me show you how to do that.

Now the setup is the exact same as it is for a long tail cast on, with a slingshot setup. So first let’s measure out three times the width…Three and a half times, let’s say, the width of what you’re working on. Make a slipknot. Make a slipknot right here and use my needle to pick that knot up. Then you can pull both strands evenly to snug that knot right up to your needle. Make sure it’s not too tight. And now we’re ready to set up the slingshot.

So with my long tail in front and my working yarn in back, I’m going to use my thumb and index finger to separate those two strands coming down from the knot. And I’m going to just gently pull back. And now we have our slingshot.

Now to cast on Purlwise instead of going to your thumb, instead you’re going to take the tip of your needle to the base of your index finger. Draw it up your finger picking up that strand, then go under the strand coming from your thumb and back through the loop coming from your finger. Now let your finger fall out of that loop, and then use the finger to tighten that stitch.

All right, let’s do that again. So when you have your slingshot, take the tip of your needle to the base of your index finger. Draw it up your finger. Draw it under the strand coming from your thumb and then back through the loop coming from your finger. Drop your finger out and then use that finger to tighten that stitch up.

So you can already see these little purl bumps forming here. All right. Needle to the base of your finger. Draw the needle up your finger under the strand coming from your thumb through the loop coming from your finger. Drop your finger out and then tighten.

Let’s do this a few more times. Take the tip of your needle to the base of your finger. Draw it up your finger. Take the needle under the strand coming from your thumb and go through the loop coming from your finger. Let your finger fall out and then use your finger to tighten that up.

Here we go. Look at those purl bumps. All right. A little faster, maybe.

A needle to the finger. Up the finger under the strand from the thumb. Through the loop from the finger. Let the finger fall out. Tighten up the stitch.

One more time. Needle to the finger. Take the needle up the finger. Take the needle under the strand coming from the thumb. Through the loop from the finger. Let the finger fall out. Tighten the stitch with your finger.

It’s as easy as that. It’s just a backwards version of doing a regular long tail cast on.


The setup is the exact same as it is for a knitwise long tail cast on, with a slingshot setup. To cast on purlwise, you’re going to take the tip of your needle to the base of your index finger. Draw it up your finger, picking up that strand, then go under the strand coming from your thumb and back through the loop coming from your finger. Now let your finger fall out of that loop, and then use the finger to tighten that stitch. You’ll simply repeat that motion if you want your purlwise cast on to go all the way across.

If you’re planning to work a rib stitch, the purlwise long tail cast on works great in combination with a knitwise long tail cast on, for a stretchy cast on that matches the ribbing. This is also known as the alternating long tail cast on! You’ll alternate one knitwise cast on stitch with one purlwise cast on stitch for 1×1 ribbing, or two knitwise cast on stitches with two purlwise cast on stitches for 2×2 ribbing.

For detailed instructions and tips for long tail knitwise cast ons, check out our Long Tail Cast On Tutorial, where we explain both the Slingshot and Thumb Method!

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