I always do a knit cast on unless there’s a compelling reason to do a different cast on. It works, it looks great, and I love it!
I’ve learned the Old Norwegian cast on for socks, and although it has to be done on needles two sizes bigger and it seems really stiff when it’s done, it turns out wonderfully elastic. It’s more than a bit tricky but well worth learning.
But unless there’s a specific reason to use a specific cast on, I agree that whatever works for you is great. I’m becoming less and less of a long tail fan because it’s so inelastic in the long run.
You’re not missing anything, really. I switch between the knit cast on, cable cast on, and long tail pretty much depending on my mood. It’s been cable usually for a few months now, but for several years it was long tail, just because it confounds people who aren’t familiar with it. Magic with sticks and string! About the only one I don’t do is backwards loop, because I think it’s really ugly.
For provisional cast-ons, I like crocheted or COWYAK. Fun to say, fun to do.
Is anybody up for a finished objects thread? I have some things I want to share, but I don’t want to hijack this one. I haven’t been on the SDMB for a couple weeks, so I’m not sure when the last one was.
I came in here to mention the COWYAK, but I see you beat me to it. I’ve always knit on, it’s what I learned first and stuck with it. I heard of the long tailed cast on, but it seemed harder to me. Now I have to try the cable on.
Thanks to everone for posting links, I save them to my favorites for future reference.
I think you should do a finished objects thread, I find them inspiring.