I always get tangled up with the first row - either the stitches are too loose and come undone, or I pull them so tight I can't get the needle through them afterward. What's the most reliable and convenient method?
Casting on stitches is genuinely the key moment, because everything depends on it. The most comfortable and reliable method is the German cast-on (or two-needle cast-on). The idea is simple: you take the yarn with a bit of extra length (roughly three times longer than your future row), make a loop on your fingers, and then insert the needles into that loop so you catch the working yarn from one side and the long end from the other. You get a strong stitch that doesn't unravel and doesn't pinch the needle.
The main thing is not to pull the stitches on the needle too tight. After each cast-on stitch, slowly slide the stitches toward the needle tip, but leave a little gap between them. If you tension the yarn too much while casting on, you won't be able to work the first row afterward. Try to relax your hands and work more slowly - the stitches will naturally ease up from the excess tension over time.
One more tip: if the stitches keep unraveling while you're working, it means they were cast on too loosely. Try casting on a bit tighter next time, but not so tight it hurts your fingers. Ideally, the needle should slide into the stitch easily, and the stitch itself should sit securely on the needle without slipping off.
The key thing is don't pull the knot on the needle too tight at the very beginning, or you'll really get stuck later. Try the method with a long tail: you leave a pretty long end (like 30-40 centimeters), then wrap the yarn around your thumb and index finger on your left hand so you get a loop, and catch both layers with the needle - this gives you a loop that holds because of the tail itself, not because of a pulled-tight knot. The stitches come out even, not too loose and not too tight.
After you cast on the first row, the tension evens itself out naturally when you start knitting the next row and the stitches spread out evenly on the needle. If something still sags at the beginning - just gently pull the yarn tail when you finish the row, and the stitches will tighten up.
I struggled with tension at first too - either the stitches would slip or the needle wouldn't go through. I noticed that half the problem was in the knot on the needle itself: if you tie it too tight, the first row really does become impossible to knit. Try tying the knot a bit looser than feels comfortable, and then adjust your yarn tension as you're knitting the first few stitches - your hand will adapt to the right grip strength. Loose stitches usually just mean the knot itself is fine, and from there it's really just about getting used to fine-tuning it.
I struggled with this for a long time before I realized the problem wasn't the cast-on method itself, but how I was tensioning the yarn while working. I had a habit of holding the yarn too close to the needle tip, which made the first row either look like beads on a string or turn into an impenetrable wall. The turning point came when I simply started letting the yarn sit further away from the needle point and just relaxed - it turned out half the problem was rushing and tensing up.
My method now is this: I make a slip knot and tighten it on the needle just enough so the needle stays in the loop, but the yarn slides easily. The key thing isn't the starting moment itself, but how you tension the yarn as you insert the needle into each new stitch. If you squeeze the yarn with your fingers right at the moment of catching it, you'll either get a holey edge or a wall. Try leaving about two or three centimeters of free yarn between the needle and where you're holding the yarn - that gives it room to move.
If it's still not working out - use a needle one size thicker than you need for the actual project, just for the cast-on and first row. Then switch to the correct size, and the stitches transfer as they should. Sounds weird, but that's literally how a lot of experienced knitters solve the uneven edge problem.
The problem usually isn't in the cast-on method itself, but in how you're holding the yarn and controlling the tension while you're forming those first stitches. A knot on the needle is just an anchor - it shouldn't be pulled tight. Try tying it loosely so the needle slides through easily, then when you form each new stitch, control the tension on the working yarn (the one coming from the ball) rather than the knot.
When you're casting on, keep the working yarn relaxed, almost loose - it should slide easily between your fingers. A lot of people tighten it up, thinking that'll make the stitches stronger, but it actually does the opposite: the first row ends up stiff and awkward. You don't really need to use anything exotic like German cast-on - regular two-needle cast-on or the classic method work great as long as you just don't clamp down on the yarn. Once you've got the right number of stitches, you can gently tighten the tail so the stitches tighten up a bit and don't unravel, but don't overdo it.
The main thing is to practice on a piece of yarn a few times without rushing. You'll get a feel for how it should tighten, and then it'll become automatic. Usually it all clicks into place after a couple of tries.
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