Problems with a provisional cast on

tangrene · 02-08-2008, 09:06 PM

Hi, my problem is that after 6 trys..I still haven't been able to succeed. Hat pattern is a simple beanie. I have made other hats, but this one has a provisional cast-on and knitted in the round.

The pattern shows how to make a crocheted chain ( a few st more than needed) then knit 92 into that for round 1. I knitted into the back bump or the chain taking care to not twist chain. Knit for 1-10. Purl rnd 11 as a folding ridge. Rnds 12-21 knit. Next rnd (joining rnd) fold up hem along folding ridge, incert RH needle into next st on LH needle and into first st of cast on round. Knit these 2 st tog. Conntinue knitting next st on LH tog with next st from cast on rnd to end of rnd. Remove waste yarn, then change to larger circular needles.

I have tried this numerous times and each time I end up with dropped joined stitches which I can't see until I remove the provisional cast on. Laddering down just isn't able to fix the number of dropped sts in this case..I think because of the join. I've tried one and the other end of chain for starting the provisional and each time the provisional is very hard to pull out. I tried different yarns for the provisional...but all seem to be hard to pull out, and the work looks fuzzy. But the dropped joined stitches are biggest problem. I've resorted to cutting it out, but still have same problem with those dropped stitches.

I tried the provisional cast on shown on this site (well actually I bought the CD cause the videos don't want to work anymore since they re-did it). That doesn't appear to be working either, since before I can cast on 92 or more stitches I have completely twisted and knotted balls of yarn and a very very loose CO.

What I think is missing is...what size of crochet hook do I use for patterns directions or does it matter? I used a needle that is about same as knitting needle. But do I do so tight, loose or what? I have crocheted for about 50 years...so I know how to crochet, but I don't know if I am causing this problem by not using right size hook or perhaps I am just knitting it all wrong, but seems to me if I can knit a regular hat I should be able to do this.