How to remove waste yarn from a provisional tubular cast-on
Tubular Cast-on
I love a good tubular cast-on because it creates a beautiful, rounded edge without any obvious starting line. I often use it when the beginning of the project will be 1x1 ribbing like cuffs of a sweater or the brim of a hat. I used it for the Moon Jelly Hat, a brimmed toque designed in collaboration with Catherine at Gauge Dye Works for our 2023 Summer Yarn + Pattern Club.
The tubular cast-on starts with waste yarn that’s later removed. You can just do a regular long-tail cast-on if you like, but a crochet provisional cast-on is so much easier to remove. It sort of unzips like magic! (Here’s a video of the crochet provisional cast-on.)
You can take your waste yarn out after about an inch of knitting, but I tend to just leave it in until I’m finished with my project. I feel like it keeps the edge nice and tidy while I knit. All you have to do to take out a provisional cast-on is pick the first stitch out of the crochet chain and then gently pull on the end. Have a look!
If your yarn gets stuck, there are a few things that might have gone wrong:
You may be at the wrong end of the crochet chain. If that’s the case, try again at the other end. If you worked the extra crochet stitches after completing your cast-on, it should be obvious which end to undo. (See tutorial.)
Your yarn might have gotten split while you were working your cast-on or first row. If you see split plies, just cut the waste yarn so that it releases and keep going.
You may have pulled the loop all the way through when un-doing your first stitch, re-securing the end. Try un-picking that first crochet stitch again.
Closeup of a model with dark hair wearing a brimmed toque in shades of teal with a tiny bit of colourwork at the top. She’s looking out to sea.
This design and yarn are exclusive until next summer, so if you didn’t already get it, it’s not currently available. But July club sign-ups are open right now (June 28, 2023 - July 7, 2023) so head over the Gauge website if you want to join and love socks. The design and yarn are inspired by the giant Pacific Octopus.
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