Eight st cable

I am working on Twist Loop Sweater (pattern is not in Ravelry, but is related to Twist Loop Top by Maja Klovdal, which is in Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/twist-loop-top.

Cable is: “Place 5 st on needle in front, knit 3 st from lefthand needle, place the 2 purl sts from the cable needle back on the lefthand needle, purl 2 sts from that needle, knit 3 sts from the cable needle.” My question is why are two purls placed back on left needle after knitting the back 3 sts. Is it to give bulk, separation, or? Clearly to continue the rib pattern, 2 purls are req between every 3 knits, so is that how to maintain that spacing? Just curious!

twist loop cable

Beautiful cable work. It’s a bit of all of the above here. The 2 purl sts maintain the rib and give you that lovely separation in the cable twist. You sometimes see this is aran sweaters too with 5 stitch cables that alternate single knits and purls. It makes for interesting cables.

Maybe this pattern:

That’s the one! Thank you for your reply.