stuck

I need to start a new project.  And for some reason I’ve decided to knit a pair of socks.  I’m not sure why, because I’m not really a sock knitter (or much of a woolly sock wearer), but it seems to be the project that’s calling me at the moment.

I’ve chosen my yarn (a skein of my own hand-dyed high twist merino) and I’ve chosen a pattern October socks by Birgitte Zuener).  All set to go.

This is where I’m stuck:  I don’t know any nice stretchy cast-ons for cuff-down socks.  My kinaesthetic intelligence is remarkably abysmal, and I’m seemingly unable to learn how to do a basic long-tail cast on.  Someone tried to teach me again yesterday, but I just sat there shaking my head, realising that I’d never grasp it.  I then spent the afternoon with a sad face, wondering what on earth I was going to do.  Really, I’m hopeless!  Goodness only knows how I learnt to knit in the first place.

So, dear knitters, please tell me your favourite stretchy cast-on – but it needs to be simple.  I need all the help I can get.