When you are knitting flat, in rows (as opposed to knitting in the round) you will notice that provisional cast on edges need some special handling. It has to do with the basic anatomy of a knitted stitch. In this example, I cast on 10 stitches. I have 10 stitches on my top needle. However, when we look at the full loops at the provisional cast on edge, we find only 9 full loops, with one half loop on each edge. (For a really great detailed explanation of this, check out Joni Coniglio's article in the first article of knit.wear.)
Don't panic. All we have to do is borrow a loop from one of the edges. I'm using the stitch on the right edge of the fabric from the first row worked after the cast on.
To pick up the borrowed stitch, put the needle tip through it from top to bottom, left to right.
The rest of the stitch pick up is easy. Just slide your needle through each full loop, with the left leg of each stitch on top of the needle. (Left leg when looking at the knitting with the cast on edge at the bottom, as show in the picture.)
Now you have the right number of stitches picked up from your provisional cast on. You're ready to remove the crochet chain.
Carefully pull the tail of the crochet chain (from the open loop end of the chain) to unravel it. Sometimes, the fibres of your provisional cast on can get tangled with the crocheted chain; just proceed carefully. If absolutely necessary, you can cut the crocheted chain off.
When you get to the last stitch, pull the scrap yarn free.
Now you have live stitches at the bottom of your work, ready to be knit or grafted!
