Left handed cables

Left handed cables seem to be an advanced skill, but thankfully, they really are not.  I was surprised when I learned how to make cables how easy there really are and fun to make.

Understanding left handed cables

First, before getting into how to make a cable stitch I want to explain what is happening with the stitches.  Cables boil down to stitches knit out of order:  knitting the stitches further away from the point of your needles before knitting the ones closest to the point.

If you look at the top line you will see the numbers 1-4 in white and in numerical order for the stockinette stitch.  This should come as no surprise since we lefties knit left to right.

The second lines shows the order of stitches knit when making the cable stitch.  As you can see you must skip over what were stitches 1 and 2 from above to knit what were stitches 3 and 4.  The only way to access the second two stitches is to get the first two stitches out of the way.  That is where a handy dandy cable needles comes into play.

Second, The cables lie in a sea of purl stitches so that they can pop out.  If you look at my feature photo at the top of the page you will see the cables surrounded by purls.  I know, I know, I know, purls, UGH!

A side note:

You do not need to invest in cable needles.  I actually never use them.  I used one for this tutorial since that it the traditional method.  You can use a double point needle instead.  In a pinch I have used a paperclip, a safety pin and a circular needles.  You just need something to hold your stitches until you are ready to work them.  Mostly, I do not even use a needle.  I learned a way to cable without needles.  That’s convenient for me because I tend to lose things.

 

The left handed cable stitch

 

Left handed cables can slant either to the left or the right.  A cable needle in the back produces a slant to the left.  A cable needle in the front produces a slant to the right.

Step one: place stitches on a cable needle

Work up to the cable, slip the designated amount of stitches onto the cable needle.  In my example this is two stitches.

Step 2: hold the needle in the front for a right leaning cable

In the above photo you can see me holding down the cable needle with my right thumb.

Step 3: knit the next two stitches

In this photo I finished knitting the next two stitches.

Step 4: Put cable stitches back on the right needle

Here the stitches are transferred back to the right needle and are ready to be knit.

Step 5: Knit the next two stitches

Here is the final cable.

The left handed cable–LEFT leaning

The steps are all the same for the left leaning cable.  The only difference is that the cable needle is held in the back of the work.  The photos below will show you the sequence.

How to read a pattern with cables

In written patterns, cables are abbreviated.  You will most likely encounter something likes this:

C4b or C4f

Where c denotes that the next numbered stitches will be completed in the cable stitch.  The number indicates how many stitches are included in the cable.  Divide that number by two to know how many to put on the cable needle.  The letter after the number denotes whether you hold your needle in the front or in the back.

A note about patterns

Remember that your cables will slant the opposite way of a pattern if you complete the cable as written.  That means if the pattern writes C4B indicating to hold the cable needle in the back, then you must hold the cable needle in the front.  I find it useful to pencil this in throughout the pattern so I don’t forget to switch it.

Video links

For those who like to see a video I have two on Youtube.  One for cabling front and one for back.

Left leaning cables (holding cable needle in back)

Right leaning cables (cable needle held in front)

I hope this left handed cables tutorial has been helpful.  Please leave comments or questions below.