For those of you who know me, it’s one of my least-positive character traits. Yes, QueerJoe is a smug know-it-all.

QueerJoe Is a Know-It-All – But Open To Learning!

So many times since we began Zoom meetings for guys in the fiber-arts this past March I’ve proved this point.

One of the guys will ask a question about a yarn, a pattern, a technique, or a book.  I will quickly jump in with a fully authoritative response. Sometimes even when I don’t know what I’m talking about.

I don’t know why I do it. Insecurity? Not wanting to be perceived as stupid? Arrogance?  Possibly all three.

But recently I was schooled (again) by the incredibly talented group of guys.

For my latest hat project, I had to do a provisional cast-on. The designer suggested a crochet provisional cast-on. And so did the guys in the room.  I responded that I HATE crochet provisional cast-on. It saved little or no time. And it definitely wasn’t fool-proof when pulling out the crochet chain. I went on to rant about how difficult it was to even figure out which loop to pick up from the crochet chain so you could easily zip out the waste yarn afterwards.

The guys tried to protest, but I wasn’t having it.  I was certain this was a shitty way of provisionally casting on.

Finally after they patiently explained to me (at least three times) that I didn’t need to make a crochet chain. And I didn’t need to figure out how to pick up from the “back loop of the crochet chain.”

It finally sunk in. There was an easier and faster way.  AND THEY WERE RIGHT! And also, I was wrong.

The Correct Way To Crochet Provisional Cast On

I love Very Pink knitting tutorials. I learned how to do a crochet provisional cast-on from Staci. But in this case, I should have learned a different method (which VeryPink has since published a video for).

I learned to do a crochet chain from her, and pick up the live stitches on the back spine of the crochet hook. Here’s that video.

This method was a pain for me. I didn’t like it. So I opted for simply doing a few rows of waste-yarn knitting, and the starting with my working yarn. Afterwards, I would “snip” out the waste yarn. Not ideal, but neither was the crochet-chain method.

Then the guys finally convince me to just crochet directly onto my knitting needle. This would create the exact same effect as the crochet-chain method. Except the loops on the back of the spine were already on my needle!

I did a shitty little video tutorial on it (in case anyone wanted to see how it was done.

Here’s VeryPink’s better version video tutorial in case you’d prefer a better quality video.

So, I guess you can teach an old smug know-it-all new tricks after all!

Current Knitting

All of this “learning” came as a result of the hat project I started on Monday. The Jasper Toque by Susan Sarabasha. Basically, the pattern has you knit a trapezoid.

You’ll note the provisional cast-on at the bottom. I also noted that I was both wearing and knitting with this awesome yarn (Uneek Sock Yarn from Urth).

Then you zip out the waste yarn (I did it after I had inserted a needle into the cast-on stitches).

Then I grafted the cast-on edge, together with the last row of the trapezoid. This creates the tube that will eventually be the hat.

A little gathering at the top. And cuffing at the bottom, and voila!

Overall, 50 grams of self-striping sock yarn created a very cute hat!

But perhaps not for me!