Loosen up and find your favourite yarn shop

Here's another way to ensure that your cast on row will be nice and loose. This will allow you to work it with out fighting the stitches.
I have used the double cast on method.
Hold two knitting together as you cast on the stitches.
Once the stitches are on the needle, carefully remove the second needle.
I recently received a very interesting email.
Quotes from the email:
'Interactive mapping of yarn shops across the US. The site is Mapmuse.com and the yarn shop home page is:
http://find.mapmuse.com/re1/interest.php?brandID=KNITTINGSHOPS

...The idea is for knitters and crocheters to add their shops and descriptive information directly to the maps themselves. In this way, we hope to have the most comprehensive, descriptive, and up to date information for everyone. ...[Please] participate in the process by checking if your favorite shops are mapped, enhancing information...,adding shops..., and deleting those you know have closed...[P]lease pass the word.'
Cindy Jett

It's a very cool site ...check it out.
Wish Canada had one.