Tubular cast-on

The tubular cast-on is great for hats, bottom-up sweaters and top-down socks. It’s a neat and tidy cast-on that is extremely stretchy and flows almost invisibly into 1×1 ribbing, and with one extra row to rearrange the stitches it flows wonderfully into 2×2 ribbing too. This version casts on the stitches by alternating the ball-end and tail-end yarns, which helps the recovery and keeps it from pulling out of shape. It’s also known as the two-strand tubular cast-on, long-tail tubular cast-on or Italian cast-on.

If you find that the cast-on is puffy and flaring, try casting on with a smaller needle, or try skipping the two set-up rows altogether. When working the brioche stitch, the set-up rows aren’t necessary as the set-up for brioche itself already involves slipping stitches.

Because everybody loves a gif, I’ve made an animated loop of this cast-on, as well as written instructions with separate loops of each action so you can stare at the motions over and over again. Note: Left-handed knitters, you may skip ahead to mirrored instructions.

Tubular cast-on, step by step

Leaving a tail 3 to 4 times the width of the piece to be knit, hold the ball end of the yarn over your index finger and the tail end over your thumb. Start with a loop on your needle as pictured. This is the first stitch, consider it a knit stitch. Move the needle up, over the top and down behind the top yarn, down and behind the bottom yarn, and pull up a loop by going up behind, over and in front of the top yarn.

---

This is a purl stitch. See the purl bump?

---

Move the needle down and in front of the bottom yarn, then up, pulling the bottom yarn along, and all the way up in front of the top yarn, down behind the top yarn and the bottom yarn, and up over the front of both top and bottom yarns, pulling up a loop.

---

This is a knit stitch. No bump here!

---

Continue until you have the desired number of stitches, ending with a purl if you need an even number.

The set-up rows

Twist the top and bottom yarns around each other once. Work the following set-up row twice, knitting the knits and slipping the purls:

Set-up row: *Knit 1, slip 1 with yarn in front; repeat from * to end.
Repeat previous row 1 more time.

At this point, you are ready to knit 1×1 rib.

Rearranging for 2×2 rib

To work 2×2 rib, rearrange the stitches as follows:

Rearranging row: *K1, drop the following stitch off the right needle, go behind it to slip the next stitch from the right needle to the left needle, pick up the dropped stitch with the right needle, return the slipped stitch back from the left needle to the right needle, k1, p2; repeat from * to end.