Judy’s Magic Cast-On

Shows a cast-on technique developed by Judy Becker. This is a great technique for toe-up socks and slippers.

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Left-handed Judy’s Magic Cast-On

A video tutorial by Ann Kingstone showing Judy’s Magic Cast-On for lefthanded mirror knitters

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This fantastic cast-on technique was created by Judy Becker. It is an excellent technique for casting on toe-up socks (and slippers!), and can be used as a provisional cast-on in many other situations too. Marie and I have filmed the version of it that I used for the toe in the Tess slippers

The version we show differs slightly from most tutorials for this technique. That’s because we prefer to set up new stitches so that in the first row or round of knitting they are knitted in the usual manner, ie through the front loop. Some cast-on methods are taught in such a way that some or all of the stitches have to be knitted through the back loop.

The way stitches are set up, or ‘mounted’, is determined by the direction in which the yarn is wrapped around the needle. In Judy’s Magic Cast-On the direction of wrap differs according to whether the needle is taken under the yarn from in front of it or from behind it. For a standard western style stitch mount you must take the working needle down behind the yarn before bringing it under the yarn to pick it up.

Essentially Judy’s technique casts on stitches with an extra row of knitting created between the two needles used. When you’ve completed the cast-on if you peer down behind the needles you’ll see the purl bumps of that ‘magic’ row. 🙂

Take care when you have finished Judy’s cast-on as it is easy to lose the last stitch before knitting the first round. We show how to secure that stitch at the beginning of the video for ‘Two-Handed Stranded Knitting’.

Also available on the second slide is the mirror-image of this method for left-handed knitters 😀

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