Teach Yourself Visually Knitting

Before circular needles were invented,

circular knitting was done on double-

pointed needles. Today, double-pointed

needles are used mainly for smaller

items, like hats and socks. They are sold

in sets of four or five. You need four

for this lesson.

Casting on with double-pointed

needles is similar to casting on with

circular needles in that you must avoid

twisting the stitches. The difference is

that you spread the cast-on stitches

over three needles.

1 Cast on all the stitches called for onto one double-pointed needle. Then slip
one-third of the stitches onto a second needle and one-third onto a third
needle.
Note:If the stitches can’t be divided equally in thirds, be approximate.

How to Cast On with Double-Pointed Needles

Cast On with Double-Pointed Needles.

2 Arrange the three needles so that they form a triangle: The needle with the
working yarn attached should be the right side of the triangle (a), the center
needle should be the base of the triangle (b), and the needle with the first
cast-on stitch should be the left side of the triangle (c).
Note:Make sure the cast-on edge is running around the center of the triangle, untwisted.

b

c a