Basic cables

You might be wondering, what are knitting cables? Cable knitting is a style of knitting where you give texture to your knitting by permuting stitches. That means that you are changing the order of your knitting stitches, creating a texture of crossing layers.

When I started knitting, I was very scared of trying to knit cables. It looked so complex and I thought that a beginner like me wouldn’t be able to pull it off. When I finished two relatively simple knitting projects, I decided that it was time to give it a go and with some practice and patience, I was able to finish a whole cardigan with an intricate cabled design. 

In this tutorial, I will show you how to knit simple cables so you can start incorporating them in your own knitting projects. 

What you’ll need:

  • Yarn
  • Knitting needles (I used double pointed needles, but feel free to use any knitting needles)
  • Cable knitting needle (If you don’t have one, you can improvise with a pencil)
Knitting swatch with two different types of cables

The pattern

 

I designed this simple cable chart so you can practice how to knit basic cables. We’re going to knit two kind of cables: 2 over 2 and 3 over 3. 

Knitting cable chart

Glossary of terms:

  • RS: right side
  • WS: wrong side
  • C6F: slip next 3 stitches onto a cable needle and leave at front of work. Knit 3, then knit 3 from cable needle.
  • C6B: slip next 3 stitches onto a cable needle and leave at back of work. Knit 3, then knit 3 from cable needle.
  • C4F: slip next 2 stitches onto a cable needle and leave at front of work. Knit 2, then knit 2 from cable needle.
  • C4B: slip next 2 stitches onto a cable needle and leave at back of work. Knit 2, then knit 2 from cable needle.

3 over 3

 

This cable pattern is worked over 9 stitches total. The cable is worked with 3 stitches crossing over 3 stitches. In this video I show you how to knit the C6F cable pattern. The C6B pattern is almost the same, the only difference is that you leave your cable needle on the back of your work.

2 over 2

 

This cable pattern is worked over 4 stitches total. The cable is worked with 2 stitches crossing over 2 stitches. In this video I show you how to knit the C4F cable pattern. The C4B pattern is almost the same, the only difference is that you leave your cable needle on the back of your work.

Next steps

I will highly recommend you to practice until you are comfortable with knitting and working with the cable knitting needle. It takes a while until you can knit with ease with three needles. 

If you feel like you already mastered how to knit cables, why not try to knit this beautiful fall cardigan with intricate cabled design.