Casting On

The problem I've always had with casting on is casting on a lot of stitches and somewhere in there losing track. This usually happens for me around stitch 5 or maybe even 7. At that point, I cast on a bajillion stitches and then I am left with the task of figuring out how many stitches are on the needle.

So, I count. And, then I recount. You can probably guess what happens next which is that my count DOES NOT MATCH! So I count again, think I have it right, only to find out at the end of the first row that I am short 3 stitches and so now I must either start all over, or do something to get 3 more stitches. Since I am inherently lazy and I want to start knitting already, yep, you guessed it, I just make it work.

Then, one day, the light dawned and I figured out that since stitch markers are used to mark off repeats (or whatever) they could ALSO be used in the cast-on row! This has saved me a LOT of time.

So, here's a pic that shows what I'm talking about. I've used my stitch markers to mark off 20 stitches at a time. What is great about this is that now I can count the 20 stitches twice (cause you never know) put in the stitch marker and then just count the marked off stitches.

On the first row of knitting, I then just remove these markers as they were only to help me count the cast on row.

Oh... let's talk about stitch markers as well. I tend not to like most stitch markers as they are in the way, too big, etc.

So, here's my solution >>>>
Little tiny rubber bands. I found a pack of these at Target for about $3.00 (they were in a multi-sized pack - I've found only the tiny ones work as markers) and they work really well. They are small, they are flexible, and since there are a lot of them in the pack I never run out of markers. I use these to mark off pattern repeats and the bigger regular markers for the beginning of the round, or other places I need extra reminders.