How to Knit Cables

Expert Jill Wright demonstrates cable basics.

To begin, Jill discusses right-leaning and left-leaning cables. These cables are created by holding stitches either to the front or back of the work to make the twist in the cable. There are thousands of cable stitch patterns and once you have the basics down, you’re ready to knit a wide variety of cable patterns.

An example of a right-leaning cable is the C4B (cable 4 back). To work the cable, Jill follows these steps:

Step 1: Slip 2 stitches to the cable needle.

Step 2: Hold cable needle to the back of work.

Step 3: Knit 2 stitches.

Step 4: Knit 2 from cable needle.

Jill goes on to work an example of a left-leaning cable, the C4F (cable 4 front). To work the C4F cable, she follows these steps:

Step 1: Slip 2 stitches to the cable needle.

Step 2: Hold cable needle to the front of work.

Step 3: Knit 2 stitches.

Step 4: Knit 2 from cable needle.

Once the cable basics are mastered, you can try all sorts of cable patterns or try cabling without a cable needle.