This post was originally sent via email for our Summer Knit Along.
Have you cast on your Game Day cardigan yet? The pattern recommends a Tubular Cast On using waste or scrap yarn, and it provides written instructions, but if you need a little more help figuring it out, we’ve got you covered! You can find both video and photo tutorials in our Learning Center for the waste yarn method.
Using the suggested method is easiest, but if you’re in the mood to be adventurous, you can substitute the original cast on with the Long Tail Tubular Cast On! Podcast host Lee chose to use this method instead of getting out some waste yarn, and she also wrote our photo tutorial for it, which can be found in the Learning Center as well! When using this in place of the suggested method, you’ll want to skip Row 1 of the pattern and go straight to Row 2, which will be the first of your set up rows. In Lee’s tutorial, she shows only two set up rows, but the Game Day Cardigan uses four to achieve the correct length.
Tubular Cast Ons
Striped Ribbing
Once you get to the ribbing, you might find yourself wondering why there are rows that tell you to knit all stitches instead of 1×1 rib every time you change colors. Working a knit row with the new color creates a more crisp color transition within the ribbing when viewed from the right side because it places all reverse stockinette ridges where the colors combine on the wrong side. This is a subtle improvement on 1×1 rib, perfect for knitters who love thoughtful details, and it’s an even more useful trick for wider ribbing, like 4×4 rib.
While working the stripes, the pattern doesn’t tell you whether or not to cut your yarn, leaving the choice up to you! If you choose to carry it up the side, you’ll want to trap the carried yarn periodically in the edge stitch to avoid having a long loose strand for fingers to get caught in. If you decide to cut each end, like KP staff member Andi did on her project above, you can wait to weave the ends into the selvage after the button band is added, which is Andi’s preferred method, or you can weave them in as you go, so there’s less finishing work at the end. If you weave them in as you go, the purl ridges on the wrong side at the color transitions are the perfect spot to hide them so they can’t be seen on the right side.
More Game Day Knit Along
Use the hashtag #KPGameDayKAL to see more posts on social media, and check out Knit Picks Podcast episodes from June 1st 2022-September 5th 2022, to hear about our hosts Lee and Stacey’s own Game Day cardigans in progress.
