Beginner cast-on methods

[untonuggan]

I've been teaching my mom to knit, and she's got knitting/purling down pretty well. She's still struggling with casting on, though. I tend to use the double-stranded cast on (since it's the first one I learned and it works). However, she has weak hands and has been trouble coordinating everything.

What's a really simple, easy cast-on to teach a beginner? At this point it doesn't have to be super-stretchy or look amazing, but those things would be nice, too.

Thanks!

Comments

[jumpuphigh]

It has the added advantage here of being what I think is the most commonly taught cast-on for beginners in the US so anybody who knits should be able to help with it.

[evilawyer]

That's interesting that it's the most common method taught in the US. I didn't know that, and have always wondered why people use it so much when long-tail seemed easier to do (and usually sufficient). Then again, I was taught casting on by my mother, and she was Italian, so I supposed I learned what she learned from her mother and sisters in the Old Country.

[jumpuphigh]

I could be wrong but everyone I know who knits and learned in the US who didn't learn from someone originally from Europe seems to know and use this method primarily. I learned long-tail from the internet. (It's not just for porn!)

[evilawyer]

I learned long-tail from the internet. (It's not just for porn!)

Hah! Thank goodness for that. I nice, soft pair of handkniit socks or a warm, snuggly sweater give so much more satisfaction for so much longer!

And I just realized I mentioned my mother female relatives. It was my grandfather taught my mother to knit, so it must have been him that taught her long-tail as the primary cast-on to use. Strange that I forgot that.

[jumpuphigh]

Your unedited reply left me going, "Deeeep........I don't get it." ;D

Knitting used to be the realm of men, not women. It's funny how that changes.