Sometimes, it’s the little details that can really take your knitted projects to the next level. The baggy final stitch of a cable, tightened up. Long floats neatly trapped. Ends perfectly secured. Or, as we’re talking about today, a cast on that melts seamlessly into the stitches that follow!

Marceline Smith’s earthy Terrain Mitts, Confident Knitting’s October project, begin with a fitted ribbed cuff. Now, as with any pattern, you can start these off with the cast on of your choice — maybe you’re a lover of long tail, or totally into tubular. But today, we’ve got a bonus Confident Knitting video tutorial showing you how to work the pattern’s suggested cast-on method, the Alternating Cable Cast On. Here’s why it’s a great cast on to try for the Terrain Mitts, or any project that begins with rib:

• It’s stretchy, but stable.

• It requires no extra kit or waste yarn.

• It creates a nearly invisible edge that flows beautifully into knit and purl stitches.

• It’s flexible! Unlike Arnall-Culliford favourite tubular cast on, it’s very straight forward to adjust for any any rib combination (1x1, 2x2, 2x1, 3x2, 1x5 … take your pick!)

Ready to see how it’s done? Jen shows you how in this YouTube video tutorial (you’ll need to click that link to watch if you’re reading this on our email service). She begins by showing how to work the cast on for the 1x1 rib used in the Terrain Mitts, and at the end of the video shows how to adjust for different rib configurations. Don’t forget, you can hover over the time bar to jump to the bit you need!

I hope you’ve found this video tutorial useful — why not bookmark or Pin it for your next mitt, sleeve, sweater body or hat that begins with ribbing? And if you’d like to try it out on your own pair of Terrain Mitts, you’ll find Confident Knitting in the online shop. The pattern requires 1 ball each of 3 shades of J&S Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight, or up to 2 balls each (depending on size) of three shades of J&S 2ply Jumper Weight. We’ll be chatting all things mosaic knitting over in The Knitalong Hub all month long too!