Provisional Cast On Part 3

I am turning into the laziest person when it comes to keeping up this blog.  I have very good intentions but something always seems to get in the way.  I hate hearing excuses but here I go.  The new Professional Knitter Certification (PKC) course has just been a huge time suck.  I really thought I could knock it out over a couple of weeks.  Module 1 has been released and there have been quite a few orders. I have almost finished Module 2.  Carolyn, who will be the first graduate, is beta testing the materials and doing all of the samples.  I did have to design a hat as part of it for it that required actually knitting it.  It took much more time than I thought.  The good news is that I should have it finished before the first student finished Module 1!

Student News
I have lots of new students, mainly due to the Professional Knitter Certification.  There are five of us doing the teaching.  All of the other teachers are co-chairs of the Master Hand Knitting Program so the students will definitely be getting their money's worth.  Quite a few people have signed up for the Basics class as well as it can be a preliminary to our other programs.

Tip of the Week
I was writing for the PKC Reference document which has a swatch for grafting different stitch patterns and as I was checking my index I realized that I have omitted a technique for provisional cast on which is the one I use the most!  I immediately did a video and now I am doing the blog entry.

I've done videos for two of the other techniques.  For one, you crochet a chain and pick up stitches with the working yarn in the bumps on the back of the chain.  The problem with this is that it can be a real pain counting the links in the chain and an even bigger pain unraveling the chain when you are finished.  In the other method, you cast on stitches directly to a circular needle which stays in place until you use the provisional cast on.  The problem with this technique is the tension of the stitches can be difficult to control and they sometimes stretch out further on the circular needle cable.

I find this method absolutely pain free.  You need some waste yarn, a knitting needle and a crochet hook.  The video shows how to start this but the basic procedure is to make a slip knot on the crochet hook, place the crochet hook on top of the knitting needle, bring the yarn under the knitting needle and pull a loop through the crochet hook.  The photo below shows the finished process. 

Notice that the cast on edge looks like standard bind off.  If you want your cast on to match the bind off you can use this technique.  Next you use your working yarn to start your project.  When you are ready to use the provisional cast on, you unravel the change and insert a needle in the stitches.

There will be one less stitch on the cast on edge.  The video show how to fudge an additional stitch.  If you look at the far left stitch on the bottom you can see the fudged stitch.

Knitting Salon
I'll be having salon tomorrow (Sunday) from 2-4 pm.  I spent four hours today at the Met HD Simulcast of Massenet's Manon.  It was a marathon.  I forgot how long the opera is.  Lovely but long.

Current Projects

I did finish up all my projects for the winter issue.  I didn't take a photo of everything but I did manage a photo of this baby dress knit in Hazel Knits Jolene.

I spent quite a bit of time working on the hat pattern for the PKC Module 2.  I knit one for a child first and then decided to do a baby one instead.

This is the top of the child version.

Here is the top of the baby hat.

Before I start on things for the Spring issue of Cast On I'm making a baby sweater.  I hope to get it to the baby before his first birthday!  This is the back.  The actual color is a richer red.