Draft
Provisional Italian Cast On
The Italian cast on worked provisionally, for a tubular edge later.
5 min videoGood for provisional edges, 1x1 rib
The provisional Italian cast on is a tubular cast on worked over a piece of waste yarn. It is very stretchy and looks much like the Italian cast on, but the edge disappears into the ribbing even more completely. The difference is that the waste yarn holds half the stitches while you cast on, and you pull it out when the knitting is done.
The waste yarn also leaves you live stitches at the edge, so you could knit in the other direction from it or graft the ribbing, though there are better ways to do those. Its real use is the invisible edge on ribbing.
The moves are a sequence of unders and overs that repeat all the way across. Straighten the stitches after each pass and lock the last ones with a hitch before you start knitting.
1 Tie the two yarns together
Take a length of waste yarn in a different color and your working yarn, and tie them together with a slip knot. This knot does not go on the needle.
2 Hold the needle between the strands
Spread the two strands between your fingers as for the regular Italian cast on and hold the needle between them, with the slip knot held against the needle in your hand. The waste yarn runs along the bottom and the working yarn along the top.
3 Through the middle, under the top, over the bottom
Go through the middle between the strands, wrap the needle under the top yarn, then bring it all the way over to go under the bottom yarn.
4 Back under the top and under the waste yarn
Come back through the middle, over the top yarn, and back under the waste yarn. That makes your first two stitches.
5 Repeat across
Through the middle, under the top, over the bottom. Back through the middle, over the top, under the bottom. The stitches look like little Vs. Straighten them out after each pass. You can see the waste yarn winding through every stitch, which is what lets you pull it out later.
6 Lock it with a hitch
When you have all your stitches, make a hitch with the working yarn to lock the last ones down. If your waste yarn is long enough, thread it through the hitch too. Then knit your ribbing as normal.
7 Pull the waste yarn out
After a few rows of ribbing, undo the slip knot and pull the waste yarn out. The edge is left looking like there is nothing there at all.