The Cast On with Options

This week at the Knit Guild we looked at casting on with waste yarn. The Americans call it the Provisional Cast On, wow, in the 80's it used to be called "Scrap On!" (and Scrap Off).
There are many excellent reasons for the knitter to make the beginning of the work open stitches.
Those reasons could include, postponing the design of the trim, accommodating the use of different dye lots, or allowing for adjusting the fit and length after completing of the main pieces.

I like to use a completely contrasting smooth yarn like this treasure from the 80's. The yarn is super chunky so I doubled the waste yarn. I finished the scarf below with waste yarn as well and grafted the edges together for a pliable smooth join..

The waste yarn  method for grafting allows for easier matching and adjusting the  with regards to tension. I have seen Lucy Neatby also use this method on her socks, calling it a toe chimney.

For the modular cardigan it is a design decision. I might do a rib or a moss stitch on the bottom in different yarn. I am also using vintage yarn from my stash in different dye lots.

The cardigan is for one of the members children and she kindly brought his fleece jacket in for measurement. He is currently a size 4, so we are planning a size 5 to 6, for that room to grow!

The first two strips look like the correct width to me, allowing for the seam so next I will make the centre back strip. Sharion, our president provided lots of  stitch inspiration at the October meeting.

When the knitted pieces were laid on the jacket I could see the side panels only need to be 2 inches instead of 3. It is interesting that the Gap version uses a completely different fabric for the underarm panels.

Another alternative temporary cast on uses a crochet chain. Just pick up the stitches through the centre back loop of the chain. Again use a nice smooth contrast for the crochet.

Using a crochet hook to pick up the stitches works well. Once the stem of the hook is full of stitches  thread them off the end of the handle onto the knitting needle and make the piece.

I began all of the strips with a nice smooth light grey superwash dk and 4mm hook for the chain as I am knitting with a 3.75 needle to get the correct gauge.

It is so very satisfying the undo the chain when you have returned to the edge and picked up the stitches. Rather like when you pull that string on a bag of potatoes or cat food correctly.

Using waste yarn for casting on is a very Japanese method. You will notice the direction of knitting arrows in the pattern diagrams most of the time. I believe these most excellent technical books are still available