Technique Tutorial: Italian Cast-on

The Italian cast-on is a ribbing cast-on.

Hold the yarn on your left, like you do with a regular cast-on. Insert the right needle under the strand in the middle and hold it with a finger. Bring the right needle in towards yourself, over the strand closest to you, move the needle under the strand, over the bottom strand and pull it back with you. For purl, move the right needle away from you, over the bottom strand, then bring the needle under both the bottom and top strand and in towards yourself, bring the top one around the needle and bring the needle the same way back (under and then over the bottom strand). Repeat until all stitches have been cast on. The last purl stitch is made as a loop around the needle so that it does not slip off. See the pictures for guidance or look for a demo video on Youtube.

Once you have cast on the stitches, knit two rows of double knitting for stabilization. Knit the rows back and forth. You only knit the stocking st, and slip the purl stitches with the strand in front (since you are knitting back and forth, all stitches will have been knitted once after you have done the two rows).

Now, you no longer knit back and forth, but in the round.