Cable Knitting Virgin

Lovedaluce · August 22, 2016, 11:40pm

Hello!

I’ve been knitting for a little over a year now and I’m loving it! It seems to come pretty natural to me, although I can’t see myself making socks or doing fair isle…well ever. Anyway, I decided to tackle cable knitting. I understand every aspect of it except one I understand that the cable needle is used to swap the order of the stitches in order to create the cable and then alternate knits and purls. What I don’t understand is how to tell where the turning row is. At first I thought that the cable needle was used on every row. Not the case. My knitting was going to he’ll in a hand basket fast. I guess I need help deciphering this pattern. I don’t understand a lick of the chart. Help a cable knit virgin out? The pattern is as follows:

salmonmac · August 23, 2016, 3:01pm

The pattern set up is the two rows:
Row1 K3,P2,K6,P2,K3
Row2 K3,K2,P6,K2,K3
where the 6sts in the middle set up the cable.
The pattern instructions and row to turn the cable are given in the chart. It reads down one column, then skip to the top of the second column, work down that column, skip to the top of column 3, etc. So you’ll have Row1, Row2, Row3 is a cable twist row ©, Rows4-12, Row13 is a cable twist, etc.
It’s written out this way so that you can check off each row as you complete it and that’s one way of keeping track of which row has the cable in it. You could also use a row counter. After awhile, you’ll be able to judge where the cable goes especially for patterns with fewer rows between cables.

(see also the numbers 1 2 3 4 near the initial cast on where you can check off the knit rows as you do them)

suzeeq · August 23, 2016, 3:01pm

You mean the crossing row…? Sts aren’t crossed on every row of a cable pattern, only one out of 6 or 8 or so. This one seems to be every 8th row.

fatoldladyinpjs · August 23, 2016, 3:01pm

Using a cable needle for the first time can be awkward. The stitches sometimes slip off. If this is the case, you can use a bobby pin for the cable needle instead. Bobby pins also work great as stitch holders. They hold the stitches securely and don’t get in your way of knitting.

Edit: Hmm. Bobby pins would be great for holding stitches for knitting fingers on gloves. Much better than the holding yarn I’ve been using. And I could insert these in while the stitches are still on the needle. Glad I thought of it!

Lovedaluce · August 23, 2016, 7:31pm

salmonmac:

The pattern set up is the two rows:
Row1 K3,P2,K6,P2,K3
Row2 K3,K2,P6,K2,K3
where the 6sts in the middle set up the cable.
The pattern instructions and row to turn the cable are given in the chart. It reads down one column, then skip to the top of the second column, work down that column, skip to the top of column 3, etc. So you’ll have Row1, Row2, Row3 is a cable twist row ©, Rows4-12, Row13 is a cable twist, etc.
It’s written out this way so that you can check off each row as you complete it and that’s one way of keeping track of which row has the cable in it. You could also use a row counter. After awhile, you’ll be able to judge where the cable goes especially for patterns with fewer rows between cables.

(see also the numbers 1 2 3 4 near the initial cast on where you can check off the knit rows as you do them)

Thanks so much! That solves it. I had about ten different deciphers of that chart. I felt like Indiana Jones about to jump into the Temple of Doom. That makes perfect sense now!