This was the very first Cast-On I was taught in school!
This is a very basic cast-on. If you can knit you will be able to work it without a problem. Create a slip knot on the needle. Now knit into that stitch. Move the resultant stitch from the right to the left needle. Now just repeat this until you have the desired number of stitches.
You can see it in action here:
This cast-on would be useful for the underarm of sleeve and can be substituted easily in any place that calls for a Cable Cast-On as they are worked in a similar manner.