My Mum taught me this method when I was brave enough to cast on for myself. Knitting was enough- but casting on too, that’s just crazy right!?
For many years I never even knew that other options existed. When I did discover the knitting bible that is the internet, I got so confused that I bought a book and then realised that I needn’t really have bothered exploring. This one worked, I thought, so why muddy the water?
This is a good foundation for your knitting, it’s strong as the stitches form through each other, like an overlapping brick wall that big bad wolf is never blowing down no matter how much he huffs and puffs!
There isn’t quite as much elasticity in it as some options, but I still use this for 1×1 ribbing; once the stitches above it are done the foundation row doesn’t need extra elasticity as it’s shrunk, ready to stretch with the ribbing.
To see which other cast on techniques I use throughout my knitting and find out what occasions lead me to leave this cable method behind, check out these other videos.