Thumb Cast On

I've been teaching the girls to knit. They have trouble remembering how to cast on because they only do it once per garment. I've been very frustrated trying to find a drawing of the thumb-cast on that Mom and I learned back in the 1960s. Maybe someday I'll find the book we learned from and be able to post the drawings for posterity. FOR JOY! One of the lists I read gave a link to a British site that illustrates the thumb cast-on. If my directions below don't work, go here http://www.coatscra fts.co.uk/ Crafts/Knitting/ Howtos/How+ to+Cast+On. htm

In the meantime, here is how I cast on.

Thumb Cast On
1. Estimate how long your tail needs to be. If my cast on is for 30 stitches, I wrap the yarn around one needle 30 times and make slip knot after last wrap. This gives more than enough yarn for the tail.
2. Hold the tail-end yarn with the last three fingers of your left hand.
3. Wrap clock-wise around your left thumb until you can see an X where the two pieces of yarn cross. (It won't work if you wind counter-clockwise).
4. Insert your needle under the left side of yarn.
5. Take the ball-side of the yarn and yarn over the needle. (Come from underneath and wrap across the top.)
6. Slip the loop on your left thumb over the needle, and snug down stitch by pulling on the tail-end.
Repeat until all stitches are cast on.

Provisional Cast-On
I have done a provisional cast on that is rather like this, wrapping around the thumb and slipping it over the needle without anchoring it with the ball-side yarn. It isn't as firm a cast on, but it will give you a starting point for adding stitches within a garment.