How to Make the Italian Cast-on with One or Two Colors

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Have you ever looked at the ribbing on a store-bought sweater and wondered how it was cast on? The knits and purls seem to flow smoothly around the edge, and there is none of the constriction that is common with a Long-tail Cast-on. The Italian Cast-on is one great way to get that effect in your handknits.

The Italian Cast-on is a good choice wherever you want a stretchy, attractive edge for K1, P1 ribbing. It could easily become your go-to for the cuff of top-down socks or the brims of hats. It’s the first step in making an Italian Tubular Cast-on. Worked in two colors, this cast-on is the ideal beginning for two-color brioche knitting or for double knitting. The Italian Cast-on is a little fiddly at first, but with our step-by-step instructions you’ll quickly settle into a rhythm. The video and photo tutorials below will walk you through.

Getting Started

For the Italian Cast-on, you’ll need a straight knitting needle one or two sizes smaller than you plan to use for your ribbing. Even if you plan to knit with a circular needle, use a straight needle for this cast-on. The Italian Cast-on isn’t very stable until you’ve got the first row of knitting done. It needs friction against the needle shaft to hold it in place. With a circular needle, when the cast-on stitches move to the smaller diameter of the needle cable, they tend to shift and twist, and you might end up with a mess. Save yourself the headache and cast on to a straight needle.

Italian Cast-On Tutorial

Watch Now

Andrea, our digital editor, shows you how it’s done in this quick video. For more detail, a step-by-step photo tutorial follows.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Leave a tail of yarn two to three times the width of your finished edge. Don’t put a slip knot on your needle; simply drape the yarn over your left hand with the tail over your thumb and the yarn coming from the ball over your index finger (Photo 1).

Hold both strands of yarn against your palm with your remaining fingers, just like you would for a Long-tail Cast-on (Photo 2).

Put your needle point under the center of the yarn from left to right. If your first stitch will be a knit, as shown in this photo and in the video, rotate the needle clockwise to form the first stitch on the needle (Photo 3). If your first stitch will be a purl, rotate the needle counter-clockwise. Pinch this first stitch between the thumb and index finger of your right hand.

Since we set-up with a knit stitch, we’ll begin by casting on a purl. Move your needle tip over the top and behind the yarn on your index finger, then back up through the center, catching the finger yarn with the needle (Photo 4).

Move the needle tip over the top and in front of the thumb yarn (Photo 5).

Move the needle tip down and back, under the thumb yarn and the finger yarn (Photo 6). You’ve cast on a purl stitch.

Now for a knit stitch: Move the needle tip over the top and in front of the thumb yarn, then back up through the center, catching the thumb yarn with the needle (Photo 7).

Move the needle tip over the top and behind the finger yarn (Photo 8).

Bring the needle to the front under the finger yarn and the thumb yarn (Photo 9). You’ve cast on a knit stitch.

Repeat Steps 4–9, alternating knit and purl stitches, until you have one less than the required number of stitches (Photo 10).

Your final stitch will be a backwards loop cast-on to lock everything in. If you’ve just made a knit stitch, make the backwards loop with the finger yarn (Photo 11). If you’ve just made a purl stitch, make the backwards loop with the thumb yarn.

Here is how the underside of this cast-on looks (Photo 12). Can you see how this might slip and twist around if not held tightly against the shaft of the needle?

Now you can switch to your larger needle (a circular needle if you prefer). In the video demonstration, Andrea worked a tubular cast-on by slipping the purl stitches and knitting the knit stitches in the first two rows. For my sample, I dove right into K1, P1 ribbing. You’ll notice that the knit stitches are mounted backward. When knitting the first row, work your knit stitches through the back loop to untwist them, and work the purl stitches in the normal manner.

Italian Cast-on swatch — The completed K1, P1 ribbing swatch with an Italian Cast-on

The Two-Color Italian Cast-on

By working the Italian Cast-on with two colors, you can create the perfect edge for two-color brioche knitting or for double knitting. Here’s how it’s done:

Italian Cast-on steps 13-16 — Two-Color Italian Cast-on

Begin by making a slip knot with both yarns held together and placing it on your needle (Photo 13). This slip knit does not count as a stitch. Set up your hands as for a Long-tail cast-on, with the knit stitch color over your index finger and the purl stitch color over your thumb.

We’ll begin by casting on a knit stitch (Photo 14). This is the same as Steps 7–9 above.

Now we’ll cast-on a purl stitch (Photo 15). This is the same as Steps 4–6 above.

Once I’d cast on 10 stitches with each color, I worked the first row for double knitting (Photo 16). I knit the light-colored stitches through the back loop, and I purled the dark-colored stitches. Remember, the doubled slip knot does not count as a stitch, so I’ve just dropped it off the needle. When it’s time to weave in ends, I’ll undo the knot.

Double knit swatch — The completed double-knit swatch with the Two-Color Italian Cast-on

Details Make the Difference

If you rely on one or two cast-ons for all your projects, I encourage you to give the Italian Cast-on a try. I think about having a variety of cast-on techniques available in much the same way I think about owning more than a few pairs of shoes. I could wear nothing but white sneakers with every outfit, but sometimes tan loafers or black ankle boots are a better choice. Having options lets you make the best decision for each situation. Thoughtful choices about your cast-on technique adds polish to your projects.

Sandi Rosner is the technical content editor for all things yarn at Interweave. When she isn’t knitting, she usually has her nose in a book. You’ll find new technical content from Sandi nearly every week at www.interweave.com.

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