KNITTING TUTORIAL: Judy's Magic Cast-on

For this technique you will need a long circular needle, suitable for working the magic loop technique.
Hold the needles as shown in your right hand, placing a slip knot on the back needle. In this tutorial we will call these needles N1 (above) and N2 (below).
Hold the working yarn as shown in your left hand. Tension the working yarn with your finger and the tail yarn with your thumb.

Move your right hand to catch the working yarn as shown, forming a loop on the front needle.
Take the tail yarn from below, over N2 and back down between the needles.

Move your right hand again, catching the yarn and forming a loop on the back needle. This is the figure of eight motion sometimes used in the description of this technique.
Take the working yarn from below, around N1 and back down between the needles.

Repeat steps 2-3 until you have the desired number of stitches on your needles. There should always be the same number of stitches on the two needles.

Drop the tail yarn and hold the needles securely in your right hand as shown.

With your left hand, you will pull out the needle closest to you, so that those stitches now sit on the cable of the circular needle.
Pull N2 (lower needle) out and use this needle and the working yarn to knit stitches from N1.

Turn your work now, so the needle with stitches on is in your left hand and the empty needle is in your right hand.

Knit all the stitches off of the left hand needle onto the right hand needle.

You have now knitted half of the first round.

Now turn your work again ready to knit the second half of the first round.

Pull the cable so that all of the stitches now sit on the needles again, and then pull out the needle from the half of the row you've just worked.

Knit the second half of the round. For this half, you will knit through the back loops to even out the twist. For all following rounds, you will knit normally.

You've completed Judy's Magic Cast-on! Continue knitting as directed in your pattern.