Technique: Provisional Crochet Cast On

This is, by far, my favorite provisional cast on. It's quick and easy, the cast on edge stays nice and secure until you need it - and then, you just need to tug at one end and the cast on unzips - voilá! Live stitches. Another plus: Worked in the round, it will give you exactly the same stitch count as you initially casted on.

And trust me on this one - if you don't have a crochet hook, get one. You will totally thank me later. (There are also a lot of other knitterly uses for a crochet hook!)

But now, on to the technique!

You will need:
- Your working needle
- Waste yarn
- A crochet hook

First, make a slip know and put it onto your crochet hook. Chain a few stitches. This might not be necessary, but I like doing it anyways.

Now, take the crochet hook into your right and the knitting needle into your left hand. Loop the working yarn around your left index finger as if to knit. Your knitting needle should be held above the yarn strand. Now, reach over your knitting needle with the crochet hook, catch yarn, and pull trough the loop on your hook.

As you can see, the back loop of the crochet chain formed around your knitting needle. Now you just need to move the yarn behind the needle, and you are ready to chain the next stitch. When you are finished, you can simply knit into those loops on your needle. Neat trick, right?

Chain as many stitches as you need to cast on. Little extra tip: I'm notoriously bad at counting many stitches. I always put a stitch marker every 20 stitches or so to keep track of how many stitches I have.

When you have reached the stitches needed for cast on, chain a few more stitches without the needle in between. Cut waste yarn and pull out the last loop to secure the end.

Finished! Grab your working yarn and knit the first row or round into the chain. Now you are ready to start the pattern!

When you are ready to unzip the cast on, simply snip the last stitch of the dangling chain, find the right end and tug on it. The chain should unravel automatically.

I hope you found my instructions clear and helpful - this is the first technique tutorial in a series. I will post more tutorials like this in support of my patterns that explain the advanced techniques I use.