Do you remember the first time you saw a serpentine pattern weaving its way up or down a sweater, gasping and wondering how that was done? Do you remember wishing that you could do that yourself? Well, after today's post, you will be able to. That particular pattern you saw was called a cable and, believe it or not, it's not as complicated as it looks. We'd like to take you through the process of creating a cable swatch so that you'll be able to do it yourself so grab some yarn and needles and knit along.
An understanding of cables will really help you in the knitting of them later on, so here's a basic description of what cables really are. The easiest way to explain it is that cables are like braiding hair. Today we'll only be braiding with two strands but once you understand the concept, you'll be able to do it with multiple strands as well. The strands we'll be cabling (or braiding) are really just panels of stocking stitch (knit on the right side and purl on the reverse) fabric. In order to make the cables stand out we put them on a background of reverse stocking stitch. This contrast in stitches makes the cables really pop and almost jump out at you.
Cables are created by knitting stitches out of sequence which causes the panels to overlap. This creates a thicker fabric which can be quite warm, depending on the fiber. You don't have to create this overlap on every row. As a matter of fact, it's best that you don't. The general rule of thumb is that the overlap is created at least every x rows where x is equal to the number of stitches in your cable. Therefore, if I was cabling over 4 stitches, I would do an overlap at least every 4 rows. I could also do it over more rows to create a more relaxed cable, but by doing it over less rows (in this case 2 as it is always an even number), I would create a very tight cable. This is sometimes desired, but not very often.
So the next step is actually creating the overlap. To do this you will need a cable needle - a double pointed needle, usually with a bend or hook in it so that the stitches don't fall off very easily. Some cable needles are straight wooden double pointed needles with grooves in them to grip the yarn. The reason you need a cable needle is because we will be knitting the stitches out of sequence. While you are doing that, you will need a temporary home for the stitches not being worked. So, you have your yarn, your needles, your cable needle, and you're looking at the fabric ready to cable. Here we go!
An understanding of cables will really help you in the knitting of them later on, so here's a basic description of what cables really are. The easiest way to explain it is that cables are like braiding hair. Today we'll only be braiding with two strands but once you understand the concept, you'll be able to do it with multiple strands as well. The strands we'll be cabling (or braiding) are really just panels of stocking stitch (knit on the right side and purl on the reverse) fabric. In order to make the cables stand out we put them on a background of reverse stocking stitch. This contrast in stitches makes the cables really pop and almost jump out at you.
Cables are created by knitting stitches out of sequence which causes the panels to overlap. This creates a thicker fabric which can be quite warm, depending on the fiber. You don't have to create this overlap on every row. As a matter of fact, it's best that you don't. The general rule of thumb is that the overlap is created at least every x rows where x is equal to the number of stitches in your cable. Therefore, if I was cabling over 4 stitches, I would do an overlap at least every 4 rows. I could also do it over more rows to create a more relaxed cable, but by doing it over less rows (in this case 2 as it is always an even number), I would create a very tight cable. This is sometimes desired, but not very often.
So the next step is actually creating the overlap. To do this you will need a cable needle - a double pointed needle, usually with a bend or hook in it so that the stitches don't fall off very easily. Some cable needles are straight wooden double pointed needles with grooves in them to grip the yarn. The reason you need a cable needle is because we will be knitting the stitches out of sequence. While you are doing that, you will need a temporary home for the stitches not being worked. So, you have your yarn, your needles, your cable needle, and you're looking at the fabric ready to cable. Here we go!
- Knit over to the place in your fabric where you want you cable. For this cable we're going to do it in stocking stitch with a background of reverse stocking stitch. The cable will also be over 6 stitches.
- Purl two stitches.
- Slide your cable needle into the next three stitches on your left hand needle, from right to left (there should be no twist).
- When the stitches are securely on your cable needle, slide them off your left hand needle and allow the cable needle to rest at the front of your work with the three stitches on it.
- Knit the next three stitches on your left hand needle.
- Now knit the three stitches on your cable needle. You can knit them directly off the cable needle or place them back on the left hand needle and then knit them.
- Purl the next two stitches and finish your row.
We're almost finished, so hang in there. When we did the cable described above, we put the cable needle in the front of the work. doing this gives us a cable that slants to the left of the work. If you look at the picture above, the cable slants to the right. To get the cable to slant to the right, put the cable needle with the three stitches to the back of the work to give you a right slant. In a pattern, cabling is usually written something like this - C6F. The C tell us we'll be cabling, the 6 tells over how many stitches, and the F tells us that we'll be putting the cable needle to the front of the work (getting a left slant to the cables). There will be a glossary with the instructions and it would look like this:
C6F - slip 3 stitches onto your cable needle and leave at the front of your work, knit 3 stitches from left needle, knit the 3 stitches on your cable needle.
The right slant cable would look like this:
C6B - slip 3 stitches onto your cable needle and leave at the back of your work, knit 3 stitches from left needle, knit the 3 stitches on your cable needle.
Using these notations, here is an exercise for you to practice your left and right cable and see what they look like side by side (pssst.... this will give you an 8x8" square. Hmmmm... now what can you do with that?)
CO 41 stitches.
Work selvedge stitch on first and last stitch by slipping the first stitch knitwise, and knitting the last stitch of every row.
Purl 1 row to set foundation, now begin pattern.
Row 1: *P3, K6. Repeat from * to last stitch.
Row 2: (and all alternate rows) knit the stitches as they appear.
Row 3:(P3, C6F) twice, (P3, C6B) twice, P3
Row 5: As row 1
Row 6: As row 2
Repeat these 6 rows until piece measures 8".
Yarn over and out!
JAS
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