Am I missing something?

Hi Sexy Knitters,
Great to see everyone's progress, or lack thereof ... some days I feel sort of guilty for being "behind" on this knit along, until I tune in and see we're all at different stages, so thanks for all your posts so far.

I'm still struggling with this provisional cast-on. I used the "knitty" tutorial and painstakingly, FINALLY got cast on, joined and knit a round and a half. Then I put it away, and when I took it out I discovered that the waste yarn was coming unraveled from the cast-on edge. I couldn't put it back together, so I frogged it and I'm starting again - with the DB Cathay, if I haven't yet mentioned.

I checked out the knittinghelp video, and I can see that her method will work more quickly for me. My question, though, is what do I do with this waste yarn - eventually? When does it come out? I reviewed the pattern again this evening, and I just didn't see it. I'm a fairly new knitter, so maybe there is something assumed that I am not aware of. I'm sort of considering skipping the picots since I'm bewildered, but I also hate to take the chickens#!t way out. I hope ( and believe!) that someone here can shed some light.

On another knitting note, I finished knitting my first sock ever this evening! (yes, only one so far ... I'll get to it!) Now that I have done it, I feel so confident about those skills (turning/short rows, 2 types of decreases, grafting/Kitchener stitch and even picking up stitches - I've been doing it slightly incorrectly until just recently.) That's part of why I want to get this picot edge and provisional cast on under my belt once and for all!

I'll look forward to hearing from you all - I don't want to bug Grumperina again, although she is always ever so gracious with her helps.

Very truly yours,
Michelena