What is Judy's Magic Cast-On?

Judy's Magic Cast-On is a way of starting your knitting with a "two-sided" cast-on, where you can knit directly off of either side! You can think of it as a very fancy provisional cast-on, except all the stitches are already live on your needles, so there is no extra step! 

Who is Judy? The "Judy" of "Judy's Magic Cast-On" is Judy Becker, who is credited for creating this technique!

When to use it

This is a really popular way to start toe-up socks, as it is an easy way to create a nice seamless start to the toe. I have also used this method for the collar of sweaters, or the end of a scarf that I want to be nice and clean. Any time you are starting with part of a project that would normally be grafted together if you knit it last - you can use Judy's Magic Cast-On to create a beautiful start to your project!

Doodle patterns that use this technique

Our upcoming Base Doodle Toe-Up Socks use this technique, as does our upcoming Base Doodle Scarf 2. 

INSTRUCTIONS 

MATERIALS 

Whatever needles you are going to be knitting on + your yarn.

THE SET-UP

You can do this on a circular needles or DPNs.

You'll want to have both needles in your right hand, held parallel to each other.

Slip a loop of yarn over your back needle (the one further from you), leaving a nice long tail of free yarn on the end (the tail is used in the cast-on, just like with a Long Tail Cast-On). You can also start with a slip knot, if that feels easier for you - it doesn't really change the rest of the process. 

Tension the two ends of the yarn in your left hand, with the tail in the back, going over your index finger, and the working yarn in the front, over your thumb. Both ends of yarn can be held against your palm.

THE ACTUAL CAST-ON

The loop on the back needle counts as your first stitch on that needle. 

STEP 1 Adding a stitch to the front needle

Take both needles up and over the back yarn, and then bring the needles back down with the yarn in between the needles. This will create a loop on the bottom needle. 

STEP 2 Adding a stitch to the back needle

Repeat the same motion, but taking going down over the yarn on your thumb: Take both needles down and over the front yarn, and then bring the needles back up with the yarn between the needles. This will create a loop on the bottom needle. 

Repeat Steps 1 & 2 until you have the correct number of stitches, split evenly between your two needles (meaning that you will end with Step 1, adding one final stitch to the front needle).

KNITTING FROM THE MAGIC CAST-ON

To start knitting off of your cast-on, you work almost as you normally would with any small diameter knitting. There's just a little bit of getting situated first!

You'll have to turn your work so that the tail and the working yarn are coming off the right hand side of your knitting. Be careful not to let any of the loops of yarn fall off of either needle while you do this!

You will want the right side (RS) of your knitting facing towards you. It can be hard to see the knit stitches on the RS, but the wrong side will have a line of purl ridges. 

To know which needle to knit off, it will be the needle that you used the tail of yarn to make loops on (the last loop you made with working yarn is the END of your round). The image below shows the RS facing down/towards the camera, and we start knitting off the front needle, then you can see what it should look like halfway through knitting across that first needle:

Be aware that the very first stitch you knit may feel very loose, as the tail of yarn isn't really secure yet. I promise this technique will still work!

As you work a few rounds, it will become more clear which is the right and which is the wrong side of you work. You'll end up making a little "pocket", which you can start pushing down, and it will be easier to keep track of which direction your knitting is going while working in the round as you add more and more rows. 

Happy Doodling!

 

Blog co-written by Jamie Lomax and Grey Lundy.