cable wthout cable needle

What I didn’t tell you about the Portland Yarn Crawl: I wasn’t going to be there! I had a Pippi Hat at Happy Knits in the scavenger hunt, but that was it for me. I was at the beach for Crafty Mom weekend. This was the seventh annual getaway; there were 10 of us this year. The weather doesn’t matter much. If it’s nice, I get some good walks in. If it’s not nice, the view from the window is enough.

I had a very productive weekend. I started my Felted Slip Stitch Tote shop sample for Twisted. I love the vibrant colors of Brown Sheep’s Lanaloft. And the pattern just flies along. I would have finished it, but I had a few other projects that needed work, too.

I started and finished a secret project; I’ll tell you about that someday soon. I played the guitar. I wrote lyrics for a song. I did a little spinning with my drop spindle. I enjoyed the view!

I worked on my Heather Hoodie. The cables are lovely. I love how the cable pattern ended at exactly the right place to make an “O” when I joined the shoulders. Serendipity!

But even before the weekend, my hands were already aching from knitting cables with bulky yarn. Manipulating the stitches makes my hands tired. I’m cabling without a cable needle (see tutorials on the sidebar), but I don’t think it would be any better if I used one, because I’d still be manipulating the stitches. I’ve been playing a lot of guitar, too, so my hands feel used and abused!

I joined the fronts to the back, and I did the math to knit sleeves down from the armholes. I’m going to make the sleeves plain stockinette rather than cable some more. I’d like to finish this and wear it before it gets too warm! It snowed on us on the drive back over the Coast Range, so there’s still time…

What did you do this weekend?

I was perfectly happy making cables with a cable hook. I’ve been doing it that way for 30 years! But Saturday morning I was ready to try something new. I poked around the web and found Grumperina’s tutorial, and it worked pretty well. But there was a point in the process where it felt like it might all go kerflooey if I had a klutz moment. I figured practice would make perfect, and I successfully completed four out of four cable crosses. But I was still a bit uneasy.

When I was at OFFF, Chris Was showing me her current cabley project, and I asked her if she uses a cable needle. Nope. So she showed me the way she does it. I love it! So much that I had to take pictures of the process. Here I am, ready to make a six stitch cable, left over right (cable needle would go to the back, if I were using one). Yarn in back, since the cable will be made with knit stitches.

Insert the right needle tip into the second set of three stitches.

Pinch the six stitches at their base. Slide the left needle out of the six stitches. (The right needle is still in the second set of three stitches.)

Insert the left needle into the first three stitches (the ones hanging out without a needle!), and then slip the three slipped stitches from the right needle back onto the left needle. (All stitches are slipped purlwise.)

All positioned and ready to knit!

Knit, and voila! A completed cable. I never felt like I was going to drop any stitches.

For a cable that twists in the other direction (cable needle would be held in front), the right needle would be inserted into the second set of thee stitches from the back side of the knitting.

Again, pinch the stitches at their base, slide out the left needle. Insert the left needle into the first three stitches (the ones hanging out without a needle), and then slip the three slipped stitches from the right needle back onto the left needle. (All stitches are slipped purlwise.)

Easy as pie!

And as promised, here’s the shawl pin I bought from Toolman! It’s all bubinga; the light color of the leaf is from applying heat. Gorgeous, n’est-ce-pas?