Cable Knitting
Cable knitting is a texture technique where groups of stitches cross over each other using a cable needle to create a braided or cabled pattern.
Explanation
Cable knitting is a classic texture technique that creates three-dimensional cables in the fabric. To knit cables, a special cable needle is used to temporarily hold a group of stitches in the front or back of the work while you knit the next stitches, then you knit the stitches from the cable needle. This alters the order of the stitches and makes them cross over. Cable knitting pulls the fabric in horizontally, so it's important to check your gauge swatch carefully.
Also known as: Cables, Cabling
How a cable is made
Place a number of stitches on a cable needle, hold it in front of or behind the work, knit the next stitches, then knit the stitches from the cable needle. The columns have swapped places, and that is what creates the twist.
Cable needle in front gives a cable leaning left; held behind, it leans right. Everything else in cable knitting is a variation on this.
Cables and gauge
Cables pull the fabric in strongly across its width. A cabled panel can be 20 to 30 percent narrower than the same stitch count in stockinette. Yarn consumption also rises, but by less than the width shrinks — allow around 10 to 15 percent extra.
The swatch therefore has to be worked in the cable pattern. A stockinette swatch gives entirely the wrong stitch count for a cabled sweater.
Common mistakes
- Measuring gauge in stockinette for a cabled pattern.
- Using a cable needle thicker than the working needles, which leaves loose stitches.
Keywords
- cables
- cable knitting
- cable needle
- braided stitches
Frequently asked questions
How much extra yarn do cables take?
Allow about a third more than the same area in stockinette. Cables draw the fabric in and use more yarn per inch.
How do I control the direction a cable twists?
Cable needle held in front gives a left-leaning cable; held behind, it leans right.