Knittyness....Help!

[pixie-trix.livejournal.com]

Hi all of you...

I'm a newbie knitter and I'm actually getting close to completeing my first EVER scarf. The people I've shown it off to have been really surprised and thought it looks great especially for a first timer. Anyhow, I'm not exactly sure how to end the scarf when I'm totally finished. I'd say I have about 1.5 more feet to finish. I have several knitting books but they are pretty hard to decipher and understand. I know that several links have been posted before to videos showing you basic knitting - do any of you know that off the top of your head or have that link saved? So my final question is how to end a 5 foot scarf once I'm completely finished - how do I cast off? and make sure that the ends don't come loose...?

Thank you very much for your knitting advice.

<3