I love that so many people have stories of being taught how to knit by their mothers or grandmothers, but personally, I’m a little bit thankful that I learned to knit in the age of the Internet. This is mostly because I think I would drive someone crazy asking them to show me something like the German Twisted / Old Norwegian cast-on a million times before I could figure out how to do it myself. Luckily, YouTube doesn’t judge you for the amount of times you replay a clip.

• Appropriate weight yarn
• The appropriate gauge needles (either DPN or circular)

YouTube Tutorial by Staci at Very Pink

Even in slow-motion, I had to watch this tutorial more than once to figure it out, but I’m glad I persevered. They say that the extra twist in the cast-on makes it even stretchier than the long-tail cast-on, so it’s good for sock cuffs or anything else that needs a little bit of give. I also wanted to do a quick comparison of how the two cast-ons looked visually, so I did a little swatch. The brown cuff was done with the German Twisted / Old Norwegian, and the silver was done with the long-tail method. As a side note, the two yarns are a different gauge (whoops), so that’s why the samples don’t align with the knit-2-purl-2 pattern spacing wise.

The difference is subtle, but I noticed that the extra twist in the German Twisted / Old Norwegian cast-on really shows up on purl stitches, as there is an extra ‘ridge’ before the purling. If you look at the long-tail sample, that twist and subsequent ‘ridge’ isn’t there. For that reason, I think I would prefer the long-tail for ribbed cuffs, but I might choose the German Twisted / Old Norwegian for a simpler garter stitch cuff, or if I really need the extra stretch.

It’s so neat to see why different designers choose the techniques they do! There are so many considerations to balance beyond just visual appearance. I needed to learn this cast-on technique for another test knit project that I’m doing, and I’m so excited to show you the finished project in a little bit. Do you have a favourite knitting technique? How did you learn it?

Until next time, happy crafting!