Judy’s Magic Cast On has gained recognition as a widely used knitting technique for commencing projects in the round.
Knitters particularly favor “Judy’s Magic Cast On” for its seamless, two-sided cast on, making it an ideal choice for items like toe-up socks or mittens.
This technique is attributed to the Judy Becker, who devised and generously shared it within the knitting community.
In fact, we can apply this technique for knitting items in the round, such as hats, fingerless gloves, bags, and more. The best part is that the cast-on edge is invisible.
Cuffs and necklines for items knitted using this method will look exceptionally neat.
In this tutorial, I will show how to knit Judy’s magic cast-on using circular needles without slip knot.
To calculate the length of yarn needed for casting on, follow these steps:
Cast on 10 stitches. Then, unravel and measure the length of these 10 stitches. Next, multiply it. For instance, for 10 stitches on 4 mm needles, you’ll need about 29 cm of yarn. Therefore, for 20 stitches, you’ll require 58 cm of yarn plus extra for weaving the ends.
Note. Scroll down all the images and press button to Judy’s magic cast on method in a short video format.
Set up is similar to Long tail cast on, place yarn strands as shown.
Take circular needles and align them horizontally. Take a knitting needle nr. 2 and put between palm and yarn strand twisting counter clockwise around the needle.
With the yarn around the thumb, we place stitches on the needle 1 and yarn around the index finger on needle 2.
Twist yarn at the same time. Work through the middle of the both needles.
When you twist the yarn fingers automatically change the position for the next cast on stitch.
Repeat until you get the desired amount of stitches. On each needle, even count.
Hold the last stitches twisted and turn knitting needles pointing to the right. Now the needle nr.1 becomes at the bottom.
Pull out and place those stitches on the cord. Start knitting the upper cast on stitches through the back loop not to twist them.
Once you finish working on the top stitches, pull the cord and place bottom stitches on the needle.
Turn the needles to the right again. Pull out the bottom stitches on the cord and knit upper needle stitches through the front loop as usual.
Repeat the steps above. If you start toe-up socks, you can start increases after this point.
Judy’s Magic cast on alternative
As shown in the image above, there is an analogue to Judy’s cast on known as the Turkish cast on.
I prefer Judy’s cast-on method over the Turkish method because the initial cast-on row is not as even as the following rows.
The cast-on row looks stretched and not as even as the following rows because we don’t twist yarn strands at the beginning, giving them extra space to expand. No matter how tightly you perform the cast on, it remains noticeable.
However, the Turkish cast on serves as an excellent alternative to Judy’s method, so it’s definitely worth trying!
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