How To Unzip a Crochet Provisional Cast On

 

One of my favourite provisional cast ons is the crochet cast on where you crochet the stitches directly onto the needle with waste yarn. I like this method because it is easy to execute and your starting stitches are securely held until you need them. Although I also like Judy’s Magic Cast on as a provisional cast on, it has the disadvantage of a spare needle/cable etc flapping around plus this cast on is effectively creating two rows which is fine for stocking stitch but not if working in a pattern.

Knitters say they do not like the provisional crochet cast on because they have trouble taking it out and putting live stitches on the needle. Recently I was about to undo a crochet cast on and I decided to take photos to show how easy the unzipping is once you know how. I did not think to take pictures of me working the cast on which I will have to rectify if not on a real project but on a test piece.

The secret to making this easy is to know at which end to start. When you have completed your provisional cast on, start knitting with the main yarn at the same end as you finished the cast on. Then when it is time to unzip you will start at the end where your yarn tail for the main colour is. No tying knots or working additional chains to help remember which end is which and then trying to remember what those knots/chains indicated. 

Here is the first picture showing the provisional cast on and the knitting - and some errant cat hairs.

 

I think where knitters get confused is that they think they can just pull the end of the waste yarn and violà there are all the live stitches; when that doesn’t happen they go to the other end of the piece and try there and end up in knots. But if you think about it, it wouldn’t be a very secure cast on if one pull on the thread revealed live stitches. First you have to release the first stitch; in effect unknotting the yarn. You pull the end of the waste yarn out of the last loop. 

This picture shows where I am starting to do that and the next picture shows the end released and the first provisional stitch. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now all you have to do is pull on the end of the waste yarn and live stitches appear.

Here it is as I am about to reveal the first live stitches. With this type of provisional cast on, it is a two step process to get the loops of the main yarn. If you use a small gauge needle you can slide the needle in to the main stitch before the waste yarn is pulled out, creating a layer of security, especially useful if working with fine yarn.

 

Continue this way until the last provisional stitch; you don’t want to get so excited at the zipping that you miss your last live stitch. (The loose stitch in the photo is a yarn over as I was working a lace pattern.)

 

When you have dealt with the last stitch, your provisional yarn will be caught in your knitting as shown in the next photo. This is actually your last stitch and should be placed on the needle.

 

 

And that’s it. I hope this has demystified the provisional crochet cast on for those who were having trouble.

Monthly Roundup

 

As I hadn’t too much to report on the knitting front I was going to write a how-to post but I haven’t managed to do that yet, so here it a knitting update post.

It is not easy to talk about my knitting/crochet when I have one knitting project and the rest are scrappy crochet projects that are going to take many, many months to complete. If I had a video podcast would I be holding up each project with a progress keeper to show that I had actually worked on something?

And I’m not being honest on the one knitting project because I also have the Latvian mittens which are my concentrate knitting. My plan was to finish these by the end of January and then when I could see that wasn’t going to happen, to get both mittens complete except for thumbs by then. One mitten is completely finished including ends sewn in, the second one still needs the thumb, which won’t take long but is extremely fiddly.

The lace cardigan is coming along nicely; the sleeves just need cuffs but I am still working away on the body. As the yarn is in 50 gram balls it is a lovely incentive to see them diminish in size so quickly. This is now all easy knitting (apart from the picking up of stitches for the band) and has me thinking about my oldest yarn and what should I make with it. There is a reason this yarn has been in my stash for a long time which I will explain when I actually use it. In the meantime I am thinking of projects but will not swatch until I am closer to needing a new project.

Talking about new projects, I did start a new one as mentioned in my last post. While I was thinking about my oldest yarn, I was also thinking about my second oldest which was a single skein of gradient yarn. This was yarn I was going to use for the mystery shawl but didn’t like that it was crinkly and didn’t look good in garter stitch. I skeined and soaked it to get out some of the crinkles and I’m so glad I did because I could see the colours so much better in the skein and was excited to make something with it. While thinking what to make I had an aha moment and thought that would be the yarn to use for the crochet project. So I have a take along project and I am using my second oldest yarn.

 

I Need a New Project

 I can’t believe that I am writing that when I have so many projects on the go. In reality the only reason I have so many projects is the scrappy crochet projects and in a way they are just one project as I use leftover yarn on each project in turn until the yarn is used up. And one of my goals for this year was to use up my fingering weight leftovers.

Although I want to keep my number of WIPs to a low number, I find myself in the position without a grab and go project. When I didn’t have anything that fit this category, I always had my mitred square project. Now that is complete, what type of project will fit the need?

The three projects I have on the go require some concentration. The colourwork mitts require constant looking at the pattern, the Tunisian Crochet pattern uses a stitch pattern that requires close attention and I am on the lace section of a cardigan which is fine for getting together with knitting friends but not for dinner with my husband as I would have to refer to the pattern on every other row. I was wishfully thinking that this would soon become my easy project as the body is worked in stocking stitch but I need something now.

I need something, but what? The only criteria was yarn had to be in my stash. I haven’t started any socks this month because I am saving sock projects for our travels later in the year; but it was beginning to feel like it was going to be socks. And then I was thinking about what projects had fit this category at the end of last year and I remembered the crochet shawl. I really love that pattern and it was easy to memorize.

The designer has a number of one skein projects and I am going to look though those to see if there is a different one I wish to try. I have decided on the yarn and it is already wound so just need to get something started.

Last of 2025

 

I won’t be complaining about the patterns for my last two finishes of 2025 as they were both patterns I had knit previously.

As 2025 drew to a close I needed some easy knitting as the two projects I had on the go both required concentration but I didn’t want to start anything big because I didn’t want the new year to start with more projects. I got out my stash of dish wash cotton and there was half a ball of cotton that had been used to make a shower pouffe. So I used it up making one for myself.

 

Well that used up a day but I still needed something for the last two days of the year. I didn’t have much in the way of leftovers of dishwash cotton. I could have made a very scrappy item but it wasn’t exciting me. Amongst the leftovers was some cotton left over from a baby jacket. There was no rule that said I couldn’t use the yarn for a dishcloth and as there were also some leftovers in another colour from my friend’s big destash I chose to make an illusion cloth. Which might not be completely non-pattern reading, but ever other row was plain. I eked it out until late on New Year’s Eve when I had to resort to my crochet blanket.

 

After a flurry of finishes, it will be a while before I have more to show. Although I didn’t start all the things on the 1^st, I started two cardigans. Not overnight finishes like the ones in this post.

Another Problematic Pattern

 

I don’t know what it was about mystery patterns and the end of year, but I started a mystery knit along of a shawl in November and it also had mistakes. But this seemed more egregious because it was a paid for pattern from a well known designer. And once again there were people “shouting” down anyone who dared say anything that could be construed as not entirely positive and full of love. And when I say shouting someone did type in all caps!

This mystery knit along was billed as a simple crescent shaped shawl with clues spread out over four weeks and the cost being slightly lower than the price on final release when the mystery has been revealed. Although I am not a fan of paying for a mystery pattern, I do appreciate the work that goes into a pattern and will pay a small amount for a mystery.

There were mistakes in the first clue with stitch counts not being correct. And then people were complaining that there wasn’t a chart for the lace pattern so charts were added in the next clues but it was obvious that the charts hadn’t been checked. Initially the legend for SSK and K2TOG were transposed – a major error in a pattern. Also the transition rows between the lace and garter stitch were transposed between the written instructions and charted instructions. It was pretty obvious that this pattern had not been test knitted or tech edited. Now this is a very well known designer who could have had her pick of people to test knit and I do not know why she didn’t. Maybe she thought this pattern was so easy that it didn’t need testing. Yet she was willing to take our money for this.

The other complaint people had about this pattern was that it wasn’t really a mystery. It was a lace pattern interspersed with rows of garter stitch. The only difference in each clue was the number of rows of each that were knit. Although this was disappointing, it meant I did have an easy project on the needles and in the end I have a project that I think suits the yarn well. Although I will not knit another shawl pattern by this designer. Her crescent shaped shawls come out as a weird shape that require significant blocking to fix.

What I find the most surprising of this pattern is the designer’s own project. Once the mystery was over, she released the full pattern and posted pictures of her own shawl on the pattern page. But her project does not match the pattern. In the pattern there are sections of stocking stitch at the ends of the shawl on the lace sections but in the project on the pattern page these sections are in garter stitch.

 

A Problematic Pattern and a Problematic Ravelry Group

 

I wanted to make an Advent project this year using yarn remaining from a previous Advent. And as December came around I had just one project left in the WIP challenge so a new project was not going to prevent other projects being finished. I had already made a hat, socks and mittens from this particular set and I had considered making a cowl, although I had made two recently and I am not really cowl wearer. In scouring upcoming make-alongs I came across a mystery pair of socks with a different lace pattern over 24 days. This seemed ideal for me; I like knitting socks and I had enough yarn left from the advent for another pair. The problem with the pattern first started on day 3. A simple yarn over, decrease pattern that moved around the sock but the pattern did not line up. It seemed as if the designer had not taken into account shifting stitches. I picked this up on day 3 and other days and by the time we got to the second sock the designer had started putting a note on those patterns that shifted. One thing I have learned from knitting mysteries is that I don’t start a clue until the end of the day it is issued, hopefully any mistakes will have been found by then and in this case not only were there mistakes in the lace patterns but the designer published the heel pattern a day early. This was picked up by one of the participants as the designer had said on what days, cuffs, heels and toes would appear. So someone did question the clue that day and a revision was published. Luckily for me I hadn’t started on that day’s clue but many people had.

These mistakes were annoying but nothing I couldn’t handle, but what was supposed to be a relaxing 24 day knit now required checking of each section.

The knit-along for the socks was hosted in a group I did not know and one day a new person asked a simple question:- this was their first mystery knit-along and they wondered if they were usually this confusing? A not unfair question based on all the challenges so far. Somebody kindly responded that there can be errors but not to the extent experienced with this one. But then the moderator told off the poster and was rude to them and the poster ended up apologizing obviously befuddled in what she did wrong. (I have shown the exchange to other people and they cannot believe what was written by the group administrator.) The administrator also said in a separate post to just deal with it, enjoy living on the edge.

That ruined the group experience for me. I stopped looking at the posts and didn’t show my finished socks as the group did not feel welcoming to new members.

Despite the problems, I really like my finished socks but that is mostly because I like the yarn colours. And I still have yarn remaining.