This week I want to share my favourite way of working cables – without a cable needle. I should say right away that that this is not a time saving trick. In fact, you’ll probably find that it takes a bit longer than using a cable needle. So, what is so special about this technique? While there is no cable needle to use, there is no cable needle to lose!
If you’re anything like me, you spend as much time looking for your cable needle as you do using it. I don’t know how it always happens to disappear halfway through a cable row, but it inevitably does. Cable needles, stitch markers and dpn’s tend to mysteriously disappear on me; the day I find them all will be like discovering a hidden treasure. I’ve rectified the lost stitch markers by ensuring I always have a ton on hand, I knit in the round using the Magic Loop technique so that eliminates searching for lost dpn’s, and cabling without a cable needle means I’m never wasting time looking for my needle.
Knitting cables without a cable needle isn’t as hard as it sounds. Basically, you are just arranging the stitches before knitting them. Like any new technique, it takes a bit of practice and it feels fiddly at first, but once you get used to it, you’ll wonder why you’ve not been cabling this way all along.
You will always start your cable by slipping the required number of stitches for the cable to the right-hand needle. This helps to loosen up the stitches slightly and maintains the proper orientation. In our case, we’re going to do a C4F (also known as C4L), cable 4 front or left. We’ll start off by slipping 4 stitches to the right-hand needle. Insert the tip of the left-hand needle into the fronts of the first two stitches that were slipped and gently slip all four stitches off the right-hand needle allowing the first two slipped stitches to remain on the left-hand needle while you use your left forefinger to stabilize the other two stitches that are now not on any needle. Using the tip of the right-hand needle, grab those two stitches that have been left dangling, and slip them onto the left-hand needle. Presto! Your stitches have been arranged for the cable and now you simply knit across them. Similarly, with a C4B (also known as C4R), cable 4 back or right, you would insert the tip of the left-hand needle into the first two slipped stitches from the back of the work and let the other two stitches drop while you stabilize them with your left thumb. Grab the dropped stitches with the right-hand needle, slip them to the left-hand needle and knit four. Clear as mud, right? Check out the photos below to get a visual and then give it a try for yourself.
For best results choose needles that have slim pointy tips to avoid split stitches. My needles of choice for this technique (and all knitting) are ChiaoGoo Red Lace. Their surgical grade, stainless-steel precision tips are the absolute best for slipping and picking up stitches. I would also recommend only trying this with smooth, even yarns that don’t split easily. For the sample shown above, I used Estelle Superwash Merino DK, a plump, tightly spun wool with sensational stitch definition. Lastly, I never use this technique for cables that use more than six stitches. Anything bigger than that and I use a cable needle for fear of the dropped stitches travelling, better safe than sorry!
One of the things I love most about knitting is that there is always an opportunity to learn more. From new stitches to new techniques, the window of creativity in knitting is always open.
Do you have a knitting trick or tip that you’d like to share with us? Let us know in the comments section below, we’re always looking to try something new!