I discovered a trick that makes the first row a little easier.
Use an extra long tail cast on. place the first 2 stitches to be knit on a new needle then instead of Kf/b, knit in each stitch with 2 strands of yarn, using your tail from the cast on as the second strand.
When you have knit all 6 stitches using 2 strands, you will have the 12 stitches you need for the second row.