Hi, it's Jill Morrey from the Knitting Channel, and I am going to talk today about something that I used to think everybody knows how to do, but they don't. And that is casting on how to get the yarn onto your needle so you could start knitting. I was visiting a knitting store recently and I couldn't believe the amount of really good knitters who had to first go to someone to learn how to cast on. So I'm going to show you a couple of techniques. One is called the long tail method, which is the one you use like 99% of the time. And the other is called the backward loop. The pattern will tell you which method to use. And the backward loop is also used when you're putting on stitches along gating the row during the pattern sometimes they have backward loop method. Both are easy and I'm going to show you. So you start with your yarn. Starting upon how many stitches you need to put on will be how long you first pull your tail out. We're going to do about this much because we're going to put on like 15 stitches. First thing you do is you make a slip knot. Now I explain all of this in my first video, DVD1 basic knitting and it's done in slow motion and you can go back and look over and over again but I'm going to show you now. You make a loop and then you push the other side through the loop and what's resting on your thumb you pick up with your needle and then you pull the two strands down and you tighten. I'm going to show you that again. You make a loop and you hand it to your other hand. You go behind the loop. You should through, I call this a little yarn hat on your thumb, push the needle through down and tighten. That becomes one stitch. Now here's what you do. Now you're going to hold the other strands with these three fingers and these two fingers are going to go through the middle down and then lean back. So you're down and you lean back and you have this V. You go under the one on the thumb over the yarn from the four finger go through the middle, pull and tighten. Under, over through and tighten. Under, over through and tighten and you continue with this and tighten. Under, over through and tighten. And right now I have six stitches on here. You don't want to make it so tight that these don't slide nicely on your needle but you don't want to make it so loose that it's actually a bigger stitch than your needle. You know you choose your needle size. That will be the size of your stitch. So your gauge will not be right if the loop is too loose or if it's too tight you're not going to have a good time knitting. So when you start to knit you start with this first stitch through the back and then it slides beautifully. And that is called the long tail method. I'm going to take this out and we're going to do the backward loop. We start with just a little bit of a tail because we're going to use just the working yarn so you don't need that other tail. Make a slip knot with enough tail so you have enough to weave in at the end and make a very smooth finish. Now what you do is like it says it's a backward loop. So you're going to make a loop around your finger, put this in and pull. Make a loop, put it through and pull. I'll show you this way. A loop, put it in and pull. Now this looks so easy that you'll be tempted to do this with all your cast on. It's not a stable. It's not as for a better word. It's not as good and secure as the other way of casting on. Sometimes patterns will call for this and they will have a reason. There's either a certain stitch, well this will be easier to do or better to do. And sometimes in the middle of a pattern you have to add stitches. Almost always will be the backward loop. The yarn is here, you make a loop, you put it on and you pull. Make a loop, put it on and pull. Loop on, pull. Don't pull too tightly so that you'll still be able to knit. You can check your stitches and see how nicely they slide. If they slide like this you're on the right track. That's casting on. You're on how to cast on. So as soon as you want to start your project you sit down. You don't have to go to a store, you don't have to call a friend over. You can start your project. I'm Jill Morey for the Knitting Channel. Keep knitting with an open heart and I look forward to knitting with you again soon.