I usually cable free hand -- without a cable needle. It's a skill I learned when I was very young, probably right after casting on and knit stitch, as my mom believes a sweater is not complete until there is a nice fat cable running the entire length. I can easily do up to 4x4 in any variations, slip the stitches off, knit the next set of stitches, slip the dropped stitches back on, knit. The only time in the recent years I had to use a cable needle was for one of the squares in Great American Aran Afghan, where the cable had three layers with one stitch between the two sets crossing.
The Plaited Poncho I'm working on has a smart design. The increases are worked into the cables, so in every set of cable there is an increase between the crossing. The increases are completely invisible, and the poncho grows bigger every few rows. The cables start at 2x2, go up to 7x7 towards the bottom. I was able to free-hand the cables till 5x5 when a stitch dropped and I had to fish it up with a crochet hook. No more hero, here comes my treasured designer wooden cable needle.
What's your experience with cable needle? Do you have a favorite one? If you want to try free hand, there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube to show different ways. Of course, that means one less gadget to play with.
10 comments:
I didn't know that cable needles existed until I got one from a friend. But I don't like it. I hate the curve and they way the needle hangs down. I'd rather use a short, slightly thinner dpn, the way I've done it all my life. I learnt to knit cables in school.
Now that I've gotten over my fear of cables and am addicted, I use a cable needle. Quite often it is whatever extra needle I have handy. I can see where you could easily not use the needle but I feel more confident knowing those stitches are sitting on another needle.
Who wouldn't love cables? They always work up into such a rich texture and are loads of fun to knit. This pattern is full of cables, so you must be having a lot of fun! I'm going to have to try your method. I usually use a dpn,but that really slows me down.
I'll admit to never trying free hand, I always use a cable needle. I prefer the straight to the curved as well, so a DPN works just as well.
I definitely use a cable needle - I like the indented ones.
People laugh but my favorite is an aluminum curved one. It hangs nicely from my lip (when working on my project) and I always know where to find.
Interesting - will have to check out how this is done on You Tube. Looks like another great project! I like the color.
I use a dpn.
Cabling with out a needle is a bit much for my brain to comprehend right now. ;-)
I have trouble managing three needles, so I cable freehand. If I do have to use a 3rd needle for a big cable, I use a dpn. I love cables :-)
I have several different cable needles. I most often use the ones I got from Knit Picks that are made of the Harmony wood. I love the old u-shaped cable needle but it can be difficult to deal with if the yarn is bulky and I'm using a large size needle. Those cables are fabulous! Your knitting is always amazing. Give a few scratches to that Rascal for us.
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