Two-Colour Italian Cast On

A beautiful stretchy cast on for two-colour brioche knitting projects.

Two-Colour Italian Cast On (also known as Tubular Cast On or Kitchener Cast On) creates a beautiful stretchy edge that’s perfect for starting two-colour brioche projects.

1. Tie a slipknot in both yarns together and place on needle.
2. Holding the needle in your dominant hand and the yarn tails in your non-dominant hand, insert your non-dominant thumb and forefinger between the two strands to separate them. The yarn closest to you will be Yarn 1, and the yarn farthest from you will be Yarn 2.
3. Move the needle toward your body and go underneath Yarn 1, raising the needle between the strands and go over Yarn 2, then around the far side and under it to grab it, then pull it underneath Yarn 1. You now have a stitch in Yarn 2 on the needle.
4. Move needle away from you and scoop it underneath both strands. Scoop it over Yarn 1 and down to catch the yarn, then under Yarn 2 and recentre the needle above the yarns. You now have a stitch in Yarn 1 on the needle.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have one less than the desired number of cast-on stitches. Don’t let go, or the yarns will loosen and begin to unravel.
6. Twist the yarns around each other by twisting your non-dominant hand, then grab the yarn in the back to keep tension. Cast on one stitch with the other yarn using Backward Loop Cast On, which will bind the stitches and prevent them from loosening.
7. You’re now ready for your set-up row.