Lesson 2: Yes, Casting on is Fun (sorta)

Well now we actually get to the real knitting part!! You are going to need a pair of knitting needles and yarn. There are 3 main types and the simplest is straight needles which are long sticks with a point on one end and a little nub on the other end. The nubs will make sure the stitches don't fall off and it will also they say the size of the needles. If I were you I would just get some cheep yarn like Red Heart Super Saver because it's easy to use. Get a light color though. Basically just find whatever needles and yarn you want.

Yay now you are going to be able to knit!! The first thing you must do is decide which type of cast on you want to use. My personal favorite is #1 because it looks nicer, but #2 is easier.

Method #1

Make a slip knot away from the end of the yarn. Rule of pinky: finger tip to elbows length for every 12 stitches you are casting on (the picture may help).

In my example I am going to cast on 10 stitches so my slip knot will be about 16" from the end. If you don't know how to make a slip knot watch this video please and thank you. VIDEO!!!! I like this video a lot because the guy uses rope so you can see it and he makes it short and sweet.
Once you get The slip knot on your needle you can cast on the rest. Set your hands up like this:

Put the tail end around your thumb. Put the other end around your pointer finger. Hold them both together with the rest of your fingers.

Going up from the bottom put the needle in the loop that's around your thumb.

Going from left to right and back to front, put the needle under the strand that's around your finger, like so.

Now move the thumb and its loop over and off the needle from front to back.

Last but not least, take your fingers out of the loops and pull the stitch tightish. Don't make it too tight or it will be hard to work with later. Slightly looser than snug is good.

Congratulations you have just casted on a stitch with the hard method!! The pattern you use will tell you how many to cast on and the slip knot counts as one so actually there are 2 now. To make the rest of the stitches just set up your hands up and repeat the steps after the slip knot thing until you have enough. When you are done DO NOT CUT OFF THE TAIL!! I seriously cannot stress that enough.

Method #2: 

Make a slip knot about 2.5" from the end. No matter how many stitches you need to cast on, always make the tail about the same length. If you mouse over the pictures they tell you which direction they go with. From bottom to top put the needle tip in the slip knot. Hold the needles in and X shape with the inserted (red) needle behind the other (blue) one. That was a little over explained....

Going around the back, left side, and front wrap the yarn around the (red) needle. Yes it matters which way you wrap it.

Bring the other (blue) needle up and over the wrapped (red) needle. This will make the loop on the red needle seem more like a loop that just wrapped yarn.






Slip the new stitch onto the original (blue) needle.




 Now you can pull the yarn a little, but not too tight or there will be a problem.  Now you have 2 stitches on the needle! When you make the rest of the stitches insert the needle into the last stitch you made and wrap the yarn over the front of the needle from left to right. I think the trickiest part would be getting the needle up and over the other needle without losing the stitch. Just practice, it takes time. Now go forth and knit! Or practice casting on.....