Cable knitting is a style of knitting in which the order of stitches is permuted.

For example, let there be four stitches on the needle in the order ABCD. The first two may be crossed in front of the next two, forming the order CDAB.

Methods

Usually, the stitches are transferred to a small cable needle for storage while the others are knitted. The stitches may then be transferred back to the original needle or knitted from the cable needle itself. Other knitters prefer to transfer the stitches to a large safety pin or, for a single stitch, simply hold it in their fingers while knitting the other stitch(es).

Cable knitting is usually less flexible and more dense than typical knitting, having a much more narrow gauge.

Cable stitches are generally permuted only on the right side, i.e., every other row. Having a spacer row helps the fabric to "relax".

Sometimes, meta-cabling is done, where the cable pattern itself is made up of cables, e.g., a three-cable plait made of strands that are themselves 2-cable plaits. In such cases, the "inner" cables sometimes go their separate ways.

Cable braids

Cables are often used to make braid patterns. Usually, the cables themselves are with a knit stitch while the background is done in purl. As the number of cables increases, the number of crossing patterns increases, as described by the braid group. Various visual effects are also possible by shifting the center lines of the undulating cables, or by changing the space between the cables, making them denser or more open.

A one-cable serpentine is simply a cable that moves sinusoidally left and right as it progresses. Higher-order braids are often made with such serpentines crossing over and under each other.

A two-cable braid can look like a rope, if the cables always cross in the same way (e.g., left over right). Alternatively, it can look like two serpentines, one on top of the other.

A three-cable braid is usually a simple plait (as often seen in girls' hair), but can also be made to look like the links in a chain, or as three independent serpentines.

A four-cable braid allows for several crossing patterns.

The five-cable braid is sometimes called the Celtic princess braid, and is visually interesting because one side is cresting while the other side is in a trough. Thus, it has a shimmering quality, smilar to a kris dagger.

The six-cable braid is called a Saxon braid, and looks very square and solid.

The seven-cable braid is rarely used, possibly because it is very wide.

Cable lattices

In some cases, one can form a lattice of cables, a kind of ribbing made of cables where the individual cable strands can be exchanged freely. A typical example is a set of parallel 2-cable plaits in which, every so often, the two cables of each plait separate, going left and right and integrating themselves in the neighboring cables. In the process, the right-going cable of one plait crosses the left-going cable of its neighbor, forming an "X".

Cable textures

Many patterns made with cables do not have a rope-like quality. For example, a deep honeycomb pattern can be made by adjacent serpentines, first touching the neighbor on the left then the neighbor on the right. Other common patterns include a "Y"-like shape (and its inverse) and a horseshoe crab pattern.

Aran sweaters

The height of cable knitting is considered to be the aran sweater, which consists of panels of different cable patterns.

History

See also

• Knitting

References

• (2002) Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book, updated ed., Sixth and Spring Books. ISBN 193154316X

• (1979) Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework, Reader's Digest Association. ISBN 0895770598

knitting