Draft
Emily Ocker Cast On
A cast on from a closed centre, for pieces that start in the middle.
8 min videoGood for centre-out shawls, hats from the top, doilies
The Emily Ocker cast on is for pieces that start in the middle and grow outward, like a top down hat or a center out shawl. You make the first stitches with a crochet hook around a loop of yarn, move them to double pointed needles, and knit in the round from there.
The trick is at the end. The loop the stitches were worked around is still there, and pulling on it closes the hole in the center. No special join is needed either.
Use a crochet hook the same millimeter size as your needles. A bigger hook leaves gaps around the center, which can look like lace if you want it, and sloppy if you do not.
1 Lay the yarn over your thumb
Lay the working yarn over your thumb with the tail wrapped around it, facing the inside of your hand. Keep the loop a little loose. It does not have to be very loose, but it makes everything easier.
2 Hook into the thumb loop
Take a crochet hook. Slip it into the loop on your thumb, into the first part of the loop, then catch the working yarn and pull it through.
3 Pull through the loop on the hook
Catch the working yarn again and draw it through the loop already on your hook. That is your first stitch. Getting hold of the yarn is the fiddly part at this stage.
4 Then repeat around the loop
Each stitch is the same two moves: go into the big loop, catch the yarn, pull through, then go over the loop, catch the yarn, pull through the loop on the hook. The stitches are worked around that big loop. Once you have a few, you can take it off your thumb. Keep the stitches a little tight, not very tight.
5 Move the stitches to double points
When you have the number your pattern needs, slide the stitches off the hook onto your double pointed needles, splitting them evenly between three needles.
6 Take out the hook and knit
Remove the crochet hook and start knitting in the round with the spare needle. No special join is needed. The join closes on its own once you have worked all the way around and begin the next round. Most patterns have you increase in every stitch from here.
7 Pull the tail to close the hole
After a few rounds there will be a hole in the center with the loop of yarn still in it. Pull on that loop and the hole closes up. Then weave in your ends.