Cables, Wires, and Other Things

I have a confession to make: I love cables.

Banal and humdrum an admission as this may be, for the longest time, I didn't think cables were something I'd ever like doing. I don't know about you, but there are a great many knitting things that I sort of wish I could get someone else to do: picking up more than a handful of stitches, for example; weaving in ends; untangling the last bit of a yarn cake, et cetera.

Cabling, however, has been a real surprise to me over the years. Now--like most knitters and craftspeople, I am willing to suffer (to a degree) for my art, but what began as a grudging 'fiiiine' whenever it came to actually cabling, has become a perky 'oooh, yay!'. And it isn't that I'm not perky, but my reaction to cabling is a bit more pixie-bright than most.

My relationship with this technique began pretty poorly. I'd taught myself how to cast on, knit, purl, rib, etc, and I decided I wanted to attempt a sweater. What can I say-- I was a precocious baby knitter. Now, I knew that cable needles existed because they were in Michaels and I knew you used them to knit big circles: and what is a sweater if not a big, knit tube?

So off to Michaels I went! coupon in hand, I picked up seven skeins of Lion Brand Thick n' Quick and a cable needle. To give you some idea of the depth of my knitting knowledge, here is how I selected what needle to pick: I consulted the ball band for suggested needle size (little did I know that I did and do still need at least two needle sizes larger than suggested in order to get gauge), and then picked the length of needle that would fit all the way around me. I remember taking the needle out of the package carefully, unwinding the stiff cable and holding it around my chest-- you know, to make sure it would match my circumference. Which made complete sense to me. Thirty-six inch, huge-gauge needle in hand, I checked out, pleased with myself for being so clever.

Yeah, kind of like this. *shudder*

So I did with anyone with a faulty understanding of how knitting works would: I cast on enough stitches to fit on the length of the cable needle and started knitting. Now, the first problem with this became apparent pretty quickly: the number of stitches that will fit on a 36" cable needle is not necessarily the number of stitches it will take to knit a 36" circumference garment. So it was more like 36" in diameter-- fine, I like big sweaters. So I kept knitting.

That was my first mistake.

Then I decided that just knitting endlessly in the round (while novel-- look, ma, no purls!) was pretty boring. So, naturally, I consulted my Knitting Field Guide and found a simple cable. Easy enough. Fortunately, I didn't have trouble thinking I had to physically twist the stitches together so the cabling itself, while near-impossible on a giant, blunt Clover circ, was actually pretty fun. I also had no concept of how to figure out which direction the cable would cross so although the cables lined up (sort of), they were not crossed over consistently. Fine-- it's a design feature.

That was my second mistake.

So I knit this huge, hideous tube until it was the length of my entire torso, shoulder to hip (not counting the extra that hung from the enormous size of the thing). And then I realized that I had no idea how to make sleeves, let alone attach them in some cogent way to the body.

So I abandoned the project. I meant to eventually pick it up again, I meant to maybe make it into a dress or a couch slip cover (okay, a pillow.. but it was still pretty darn big), but I didn't. In hindsight, I could have sewed up the bottom and used it as an industrial trashcan liner. This poorly conceived and even more poorly executed thing is still in my childhood house in Southern California-- lurking.

That said, cabling and I are a thing now. We're an item. We're going steady. We're pinned. My boyfriend is jealous of cables and my love. Not really, but almost.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D 

(Remember these? They are taking forever. I'm in the middle of the second one now.)

I have many more examples but I don't wish to bore you. Well, not entirely true... I could talk for days about cabling. In fact, I sat down with the resolve to show you my collection of cable needles but then I realized belatedly that I don't use them anymore. That's right-- all of the above cabling was done with no needle. No safety net. I'm a rebel, after all.

If you've never attempted to cable without a needle, I highly recommend it; if only for it's death-denying, free-wheelin' loose stitches. I always feel a little bit like a shepherd rounding up my flock as I slip the stitches back onto my working needles. 

Basically in sum: CABLES. Knit them! 

That's what I've got. Now to finish these darn Glittens before winter ends and I can't wear them for another billion years.