I use the garter tab cast on for most of my top down shawl designs like Daybreak, Herbivore, Akimbo, Pogona, and the 2011 Mystery Shawl: Earth & Sky.
The stitch counts in the photo tutorial below represent the exact same instructions for the beginnings of Transatlantic, Pogona, and Earth & Sky. You can use the same tutorial for my other shawl designs, but the cast on number or garter stitch rectangle length may be slightly different.
1. Cast on 3 stitches. My default cast on is the long tail method, but just about any cast on will be fine here.
2. Knit 6 rows. At the end of last row, do not turn to work other side. Sometimes this little rectangle can look wonky, especially when worked with fine yarn. Give it a little tug and make sure it is not twisted for the next step.
3. Rotate piece 90 degrees clockwise so that you are looking at the long side of the garter stitch rectangle. Pick up 3 stitches (1 in each purl bump from the garter ridges).
4. Knit into those 3 picked up stitches. The picked up stitches can be picked up all at once as illustrated in the photo above or you can pick up and knit those 3 stitches one at a time.
5. Rotate piece again clockwise so you can pick up 3 stitches along the cast on edge. This can be the trickiest place to pick up stitches. Just locate 3 strands of yarn along that cast on edge to pick up.
6. Knit into those 3 picked up stitches. You now have 9 stitches scrunched up in a little blob.
This photo shows those 9 stitches spread out a bit more.
You are now ready to begin the first rows of the shawl.
{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks so much, Stephen. That helps. I think.
I know you put a great deal of time and energy into to setting this up for all of us, and that is what I wanted to let you know I appreciate. Your time and energy. For all of us rabid knitters. This will be fun, and we’ll learn some new things along the way and exercise our brains a bit, right?
Go rest a bit!
Karen
Thank you buddy, nice to have a visual.
Great photo tutorial !
In japan, when I was a child I learned a cast on edging / method very similar And fun. I forget the exact Japanese name of it, but it meant tiny dumplings. A popular item made was a little ” secret treasue ” scarf where within one of the dumplings you enclosed a tiny object that only you knew about ,( usually a beach pebble ) for sentiment , good luck , and to help make wishes come true. Your clue #1 reminded me of that.
Great tutorial for that little tab!
Amazing photos. Clear and clever too! Hugs from Iceland
Thanks for the visual – made that step so easy.
Thank you for this photos! Could I put this link on my new shawl personal pattern to explain this construction please?
Love this tutorial! It’s fantastic to have such clear instructions and pictures to follow for this cast on. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain and post it. I’ll be referring back to this often. Happy knitting
Hi stephen !
a big thank you !! I am French and I am a huge fan of your models! my favorite is the “clock work”! but I think it may soon be dethroned by the new subblimes models such as the spectra and other! In any case, thank you for this tutorial very useful!
bisous…
You can also do a provisional cast on to have three live sts at the beginning edge. I convert all shawl patterns to this cast on. Depending on the number of edge sts, it usually equates to the 3rd row. Just look at the rows to see which one has the stitch count you end up with after the cast on.
Sure!
As ever Stephen, …. you are a star.
Lovely clear photographs and instructions. This will be a well used tutorial without any doubts !
Stephen, I cannot thank you enough for posting this. Your photos make it all so clear. (I’d be embarassed to tell you how many times I tried to do this last year before beginning my Daybreak — by looking at various other tutorials, it took me forever to get it.)
Not any more. Leave it to you to make it easy — great blog post!
This is great! I’d love to see a similar post on the knit to purl yarnover from Pogona. Baffling!
It’s a very clear explanation
I really wish I had had it under my eyes the day I started my first shawl… Reading the stuff just did not make sense at that time…
Thanks so much for this!!
You saved my butt. I was starting a shawl that didn’t specify what type of cast on this was and after months of never starting the pattern someone !told me what it was called! and your pictures explained swimmingly. I am now well on my way to having a lovely shawl, yay!
Thanks so much~! I plan on starting my first shawl in the next day or two. This tutorial is exactly what I needed. <3
Stephen — thanks for the tutorial. I’m just getting ready to start your Pogona pattern and was certain I didn’t understand the instructions. After seeing the pictures I know I actually did understand. This is the first shawl I’ve ever made and I was feeling confused. With the fingering weight yarn it was difficult for me to see what was going on. Now I know I was on the right track. Thanks for the explanation and your great designs.
Rich
Wow. How about that. I had no idea what these instructions meant and this is so clear! Thank you!!!
Thank you very much for this tutorial which will really help me! Very nice of you.
Is the yarn overs on this suppose to leave a hole between the edges and the stripes?
This tutorial is brilliant!!!
Thank you very very much, it help me with my first shawl
merci! J’ai enfin compris!
I did it!!!! I can knit my shawl now!!
Thanks
Thank you, Stephen! 7 starts on my first shawl type construction — Age of Brass & Steam. Could not get that first part done correctly, I see now & also know is a garter tab. Sweet! – Mary
Thank you for the wonderful tutorial on garter tab starts! Since I like to knit with the yarn double the first row after the cast on so I have no ends to work in, I was frustrated when working with tiny needles and dark yarn — I just couldn’t seem to pick up those darn three stitches correctly (duh)without splitting yarn. Now I have learned to leave my skinniest dp or circular needle in the first three stitches. When I turn the corner to pick them up, I just knit right off the skinny needle and they are easy to find and to knit smoothly.
Les grands esprits se rencontrent!
I also use it on all my shawls. I am not able to create such perfect photos as yours though, and I hope my pattern’s readers understand my explanation!
I engineered the same process, but with a provisional cast-on that give a perfect, totally invisible cast-on.
Tech knitting is fun, isn’t it?
Greetings from Switzerland
Manuèle
Thank you SOOOOO much! So clear on all levels, words and pictures!! You did a big service to many taking the time to set up this tutorial!!!!!
Thank you! This is very clear and attractive.
I just started making this shawl and the pattern does not explain xCB. Can you help?
merci Stephen pour le tuto très clair, merci pour les modèles cadeaux et pour tous vos modèles; j’ai tricoté le daybreak et herbivore en 2012
janvier 2013 je commence le Metalouse…
Bonne année
thank u so much. it helped me a lot
Stephen estimated from Argentina thank you very much!
Very helpful, thank you!
Dude, you rock. This tutorial is wonderful. I just finished my first Esjan…and am hunting for new yarns/colorways to make another. Your patterns are very clear, and your designs are intelligent. Many thanks!!
{ 2 trackbacks }