Knit for Brains

In perusing the ravelry.com cable knitting groups I found a thread “defending the lowly cable needle”. I have no doubt each of us will have our preference for working cables. Some are adept and doing it with an old fashioned cable needle as instructed in the patterns, to “let the cable needle hang to the front/back” while knitting the other stitches. Some people are scared of cables, but I’ve found there are other ways that may be easier and a lot less scarier. I really like the look of cables so was very frustrated trying to do it the more common ways, so I kept looking and thinking, with good results.

One way I came up with recently is outlined in the post A New And Better Way To Knit Cables. It uses a crochet hook in the right hand along with the right needle, and can be used with any knitting style. While posting to groups about this discovery I found the thread mentioned above and in it Lynne from Great Britain, who goes by the ravelry.com name Mini-mum, tells about her way of doing cables. She has been knitting for over 40 years and is quite adept at cables. Her techniques is also great, and it will work fine for English and Portuguese styles of knitting but it won’t work for continental or eastern/combined knittiers as it requires you to hold a third needle in your left hand while knitting, and that’s where they hold their yarn. If you use continental or eastern/combined (or English or Portuguese) then try my way with a crochet hook, or try the pinch methods.

Lynne says,

“I normally use slick nickel plated needles for knitting with. I love them. However, I find it helps to use a bamboo (third needle) as it clings to the knitting better and doesn’t slip around ‘without permission’.

Definitely use a bamboo needle. Lynne uses a spare dpn herself. I went to Joann’s and got a set of #4 straight knitting needles by Clover for use with most of my cable knitting. I figure that size will be easy to get into loops for several sizes upwards of that, and the smaller size doesn’t matter relative to the needles you are knitting with as your right needle determines your gauge. I’ll probably get a set of #1s for when I do socks, now that I see this method works fine, although considering the tight workspace of sock knitting I may go with my crochet hook method. I’ll have to do some tests.

HOLDING THE THIRD NEEDLE

Lynne writes,

“The (third needle) is not exactly parallel as my left index finger is in between the two needles to keep them apart, otherwise it would get in the way of knitting.”

“The (third) needle is held in my left hand, parallel to the left hand needle. I don’t move it unless it’s to roll it over the LH needle to the front (for a right twist cable) rather than the back (for a left twist cable). I don’t drop it, I don’t put it down, I just flick it out of the way, between other fingers, but bear in mind that I enjoy cable projects that have a lot of cables in them, not just every few rows.”

This pic shows how I tried holding the third needle. It also shows Max noticing the bamboo needle.

Experiment with holding the third needle while knitting. I have it under my middle and ring finger, with my index and pinky under the third needle. As you can see in the picture the knob end of the third needle is up toward my pinky knuckle, and the tip end is beyond the middle joint of my index finger. You need to be able to bring it in to where your loops are to take them off. How you hold it will depend on comfort and how you work out the functional best for you.

Max, part panda apparently, attacks the bamboo needle. How ever you decide to hold the needle, don't hold it too near a bamboo-eating cat.

Lynne again:

“I take the stitches off the LH needle with my RH needle and then just pass them to the (third needle). I then knit the next stitches off the LH and then knit off the (third needle) needle. I don’t pass the stitches from the (third needle) to the LH needle, I knit them straight off.”

I, however, find that sometimes it’s not difficult to just take the stitches off the left needle directly to the third needle and it saves a step. Just insert it from the left. This is easier if your third needle is a few sizes smaller than your primary needles. You may want to guard the left tip with a right finger to keep from pushing them off the left needle into thin air.

Here are pictures of the technique mid-process for left- and right-twist cables:

For a left-twist cable leave the third needle in back while knitting the second set of loops.

For a right twist, after transferring the first set of loops to the third needle, reposition it in front of the primary needles. Then knit the second set, then knit off the third needle.

Says Lynne:

“I do tend to push the cable/dpn a bit further through than is usual in order that when I knit the stitches off the LH needle I don’t accidentally push the cable stitches off too.”

Push your third needle in an inch or so to give you a good safety margin while knitting the inner set of loops. Knit the inner loops from the left needle, then move the third needle so the loops are in knitting position and knit the outer loops directly from the third needle in your left hand.

“Once the stitches are done, then the cable/dpn remains between other fingers so that it’s not in the way of the plain knitting, but the key thing is that it’s not put down all the time.”

Again, Lynne says she likes patterns with a lot of cables in it so she keeps the third needle in hand. It’s not uncomfortable, but you can make your choice based on your need to use it.

Another thing to like about this method is it seems you don’t have so much of the tightness typical of doing a cable crossover. It really was pretty easy.

Lynne adds this regarding more complex cable work:

“I use a smaller sized circular for double cables and hold the stitches on the cord so that a needle isn’t in the way if it’s not being knitted off. It’s a breeze to pull the needle back through the stitches when you’re ready to do the second part of the fancy cable. Magic.”

Lynne’s way is a great method. I haven’t used it extensively, so I can’t say fully how it works out, but I like it and will give it a try in the scarf I’m working on.

Visit Lynne’s site at http://www.mini-mum.com/ to see her work.

Thanks for stopping by.

- Eric

Related Posts:

• Needle Overview for the Beginning Knitter
• Don’t Hurt Your Wrists: Large Needles and Portuguese Knitting Caution
• A Better Way to Knit Cables? Give ‘em a Right Hook!
• Understanding Eastern Knitting and Western Knitting Styles and Knitting Faster