The 'Old Norwegian' cast on (also called the German twisted cast on) is completely optional for beginners to learn, but is a useful method to know in addition to the knitted cast on and/or long tail cast on methods.

The advantage of the Old Norwegian cast on is that it offers more stretch. It is therefore often used for projects like socks to give a stretchier, more comfortable fit.

The actual technique is very similar to that of the long tail cast on method, but with a couple of extra twists and turns. So if you know how to do the long tail cast on, then this one should be a piece of cake!