How to: cast off knitwise

At the end of a pattern, you'll want to cast off all the stitches on your needle, leaving a neat edge. Here, we show you how to cast off on a knit row.

It’s possible to lapse into knitting across the row, so make sure you only have one or two loops on your right-hand needle when casting off knitwise.

Where you see ‘cast of kwise’ on a pattern, this is your instruction to cast off ‘knitwise’, detaching your knitting from the needle and leaving a neat edge. This basically involves knitting a stitch as normal onto the right-hand needle, then lifting the stitch next to it over the stitch and off the needle, so it can no longer be knitted but crucially also won’t unravel. The cast off stitch is secured by being looped over the one still on the needle, and creates a neat V that sits on the top edge. Avoid holding the working yarn tightly while casting off, as this will make your cast-off stitches smaller than your main knitting. The result can be a puckered edge that can distort your fabric and make joining up more tricky. This edge of your knitting is known as the cast-off edge and can be identified by this line of Vs along the top. Aim to cast off evenly all the way along your row and this will keep all of your Vs the same size. You’ll be left with one stitch to fasten off with, by threading the cut end of your yarn through this loop after simply taking the needle out. There are various ways to cast off, so follow the method suggested in the pattern.