How To Do a Long Tail Cast On For Socks

Mint green yarn on double pointed, knitting needles against a white, lace table cloth. Four of the five needles are joined together by the mint green yarn in the shape of a diamond. Text on the image reads: Long Tail Cast on with Double Pointed Needles. Banana Moon Studio.

Learn to do a long tail cast on for socks

Learn to do a long tail cast on for socks! If you’re knitting socks for the first time, you may be wondering how to do a long tail cast on with double pointed needles. In the video below I will show you just how to do this! You can also use this cast on method for anything else you would make with double pointed needles, like gloves, mittens, cowls, or hats.

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I sure can! I use and recommend Knitter’s Pride Cubics 6″ double pointed needles. Get them here.

Absolutely! The sock knitting pattern mentioned in this video is perfect for beginners. It uses an easy, but interesting stitch pattern. And the tutorial videos for each part of the cast on, heel, and toe make the pattern I’m using here an excellent choice. You can find that here, Catoosa socks.

Two knitted, mint green, socks with double pointed knitting needles. Both are on a white, lace tablecloth. Text on image reads: Banana Moon Studio.

What are the basic steps to knitting a sock?

A handknit sock starts with the cast on. Most likely, you already know this, but if not, a cast on is where we put the very first row of knit stitches on the needles. It’s the foundation of our sock, or of any knit project for that matter.

Now, one thing about socks, is that they can be made starting at the toe, or at the cuff. The cast on method for starting at the toe is a bit different, and I won’t dive into that here, so let’s just focus on what we call “top-down” or “cuff-down” socks, or those that start at the top.

First, you cast on. If you are using double pointed needles, the video here will be just what you need to learn the long tail cast on for socks. If you are using long circular needles for the magic loop method, you will still use the long tail cast on, but you will just do them all on one needle and split them up later.

After you do your long tail cast on, you will knit in ribbing until you’ve made an inch or two of fabric. That will be the cuff of your sock. From there, you knit the leg using your chosen pattern stitch. That’s easy knitting, just going around and around until your sock leg is as long as you want it. This can be very, very short for ankle socks, or 6 to 8 inches long for typical socks.

Then you begin the heel. There are lots of different ways to knit heels as well. In my free Catoosa Socks pattern and the series of videos to go with it, I teach the heel flap, heel turn, and gusset method. I’d suggest sticking with this heel type until you are comfortable making socks, and then exploring other types to find your favorite.

One you finish the heel and gusset you knit the foot, which is like the leg, around and around until it’s long enough.

When your sock foot is about two inches shorter than the wearer’s foot, it’s time to knit the toe. The most traditional method involves knitting until you have about 16 stitches left and then using kitchener stitch to close the toe. Personally, I find a gathered toe much easier, so that is the method that I teach in this series and pattern.

Those are the basic steps. Now that you have an idea how it goes, let’s circle back to the beginning and learn the long tail cast on for socks.

Long tail cast on for socks video tutorial

If you have your double pointed needles (DPNs) and sock yarn ready, let’s jump into casting on our socks!

Image of a ball of yarn and five double pointed needles with knit stitches on them all on a white lace background. A white banner with text reads: Banana Moon Studio. Long tail cast on with double pointed needles. A red and white play button is in the middle of the image. Clicking this image will redirect users to youtube to watch the video.

What else can you teach me about knitting socks?

This video is part of a series of videos to teach you to knit socks! See the others here:

Learn to knit a heel flap for socks

How to knit a heel turn for socks

How to knit a gusset for socks

Learn to knit a gathered toe for socks

I’m so happy that I could teach you the long tail cast on for socks! I’d love to see your sock progress. Come join my Facebook group, The Studio Bunch, to share your accomplishments and progress!

Happy knitting,