When I learned to spool knit back in the 50s, we looped the yarn around each pin/nail in the first round, which is identical to the backwards-e cast-on that I intensely dislike if you are needle-knitting. Emily Kubin, founder of Emily's Hats for Hope, uses looms to make hats, and she can make a hat in about 2 hours (for comparison, I take about 4 hours to knit one.) You're limited in the range of stitches on a loom, but if you want something quick, or if you have trouble with needles, loom knitting is a good option. Generally, I see people using them for hats. They're usually rings, but sometimes are rectangles, and you wind the yarn around them and loop one round of yarn over the next round and produce whatever you want. Then, in my adulthood, I noticed that crafts stores and now yarn shops are selling "looms" which use the same principle, but they're bigger. Most loom knitters who don't knit on needles don't even realize it, but the way the loom manufacturers teach you to use their looms gives you twisted stitches on every row. However, (here's the technical part), I have avoided loom knitting because something about the way everyone is teaching it really bothers me. You even can buy modern versions of them at the Lion Brand Outlet up in Carlstadt. A lot of my knitting friends today who are about my age remember those spool dolls fondly. Back in my childhood, we coiled that yarn to make doll hats and doll rugs. This created a long knitted tail which today we call the icord (I have no idea where that name came from). What I and my friends did with such dolls is wrap yarn around the nails and use a stick of some kind (maybe a tiny crochet hook) to lift the yarn around the nails up over more yarn around the nails. When I was about 5 or 6, my first introduction to knitting was a little spool doll with five nails sticking up on the top of her head. If you've never knitted on a loom, you might think I'm a little nuts to even write this. in NC for writing in this tip.Warning: this is a technical post. TIP: Using a crochet hook in the right hand can make this cast on easier. *k1, p1* on the following rows for ribbing. Repeat from *, ending with the knit stitch, so there's an even number of stitches (including the slip knot). Place on left needle by slipping knit wise. Knit into space between last two stitches. Place stitch on left needle by slipping knit wise. Then *Purl into space between last two stitches. Place the new stitch on left needle by slipping it knit-wise. Knit into the slip knot, leaving the stitch on the left needle. As one viewer commented, it certainly would be more straight forward to an English knitter, although I would still stress that you want to work it loosely. Sorry English knitters, I don't have a demo in English. It also requires some clumsy movements as a Continental knitter. For me, it's because I tend to work it too tightly, and need to focus on keeping it loose. In the video I comment that it's tricky to work. This has a very discreet edge against k1 p1 ribbing. There is another method of working longtail cast-on, which is a slower to work, called the thumb method. 2) The yarn on the thumb side will tend to "untwist" as you go, but since it's not attached to the ball end it's easy to reintroduce the twist as you wish. I specify to dangle the tail from your thumb for two reasons: 1) Your tail length will not fluctuate with the needle size, so it's easier to estimate yarn. I usually give myself 12" of tail for every 20 stitches, more generously if it's bulky yarn. Results are a cast on that is literally as stretchy as your ribbing. Tip: When a pattern calls to "cast on loosely" (like sock cuffs and turtle necks), I will do this cast on over two needles held together as one. It's even faster than Single Cast-On when you take into account that this method creates an already knitted row (technically, anyway.but patterns don't count this row). It's easy to knit from, easy to pick up stitches from, and is also the fastest cast-on I know, once you get the hang of it. It creates an even, stretchy edge that works well for stockinette stitch or for ribbing. This is my favorite cast on method, I use it almost exclusively. Long-Tail Cast-On Also known as Double Cast-On or Continental Cast-On