By Cassandra Harada

As an ambassador of my craft, I would like to personally and warmly welcome you to your new hobby.  Please have a seat, take a deep breath and get ready for the following emotions to sweep over you in waves:  Elation, frustration, pride, happiness, desperation, anger and satisfaction.

As following written instructions or drawings can be ridiculously hard, and even discouraging in the long term, I have collected a series of videos for you to watch what experienced knitters do, and see if you can follow along.  At the beginning, when you are casting on for the first time, and working through the rows, you will feel it is probably going really slowly.  This is probably the truth, as my first scarf took me over 6 months to knit.  Just remember every stitch is one step closer to casting off, and try to enjoy the process!

Let's start with a very valuable skill:  The Long tail Cast On.

this method of casting on is incredibly stretchy, and great for about every garment you might want to knit (unless the pattern calls for a different method, which is sometimes necessary).  This method is of a higher quality than a simpler cast on method like "backwards loop" because it creates a lovely small braid at the bottom of your garment and allows the edge to be a little stretchier, but hold its shape more nicely.  

Ok, Here we go!  The great thing about this video, is you can keep hitting the replay button if you don't understand.  Good luck and Happy Knitting!

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