Chapter 3: Advanced Cable Techniques
The show-stopping Pleione blanket by Lucy Hague. Image © Jesse Wild.
Lucy Hague is a cable genius. She has an incredible ability to turn complex knot patterns into stunning cabled knits, and her contributions to Something New to Learn About Cables are pretty jaw-dropping. The Pleione blanket and cowl designs both use a hexagonal block, that is cast on at the centre (with the pinhole cast on we used in A Year of Techniques). They are then worked outwards to create a star-shaped knot cable. That's to say that the cables form a closed loop, rather than being panels that work in a straight line. The hexagons are then joined together and half-hexagons are added to form straight sides.
The half-hexagons at the edges are knitted on to the assembled blanket or cowl. Image © Jesse Wild.
The edges of the blanket also use a half-hexagon (sliced the other way round) to finish the blanket, and once all of the sections are joined, a smart i-cord edging completes the project. The pattern includes comprehensive instructions on assembling your blanket or cowl, and I was particularly pleased with the diagrams I drew to illustrate the construction:
To make the blanket, strips of whole hexagons are joined, and half-hexagon strips complete each end. The blue dashed lines show where the final edge half-hexagons will be knitted on to the blanket before completing with i-cord. Image © Arnall-Culliford Knitwear.
Lucy has also created two different sizes of cowl which use the same star-shaped hexagonal design. There is a short, deep version that snuggles in close around your neck and is perfect for a crisp morning as we have today in Frome. The longer cowl is also narrower, and fits more like a scarf, nestling nicely into the open neck of a coat or jacket.
Lucy is wearing the short cowl knitted in shade Anemoi and I am wearing the longer version, knitted in Minos (pale grey). Image © Jesse Wild.
Many thanks to Maylin for knitting the longer grey cowl sample for us! Maylin is an incredible knitter and she can be found blogging at Julia Hedge's Laces. Maylin also does sterling work over in our Ravelry group as a moderator, where she keeps us in awe at the number of garments she makes. Thank you so much Maylin!
The tutorials in this final chapter cover a range of techniques to take your cabling further. The first set of instructions are for working true and faux axis cables. These are the sort of cables where 3 sets of stitches swap places (rather than 2 sets in more basic cables). They are most commonly met when two sets of knit stitches swap sides over a central set of purl stitches (a rear axis cable). Both the Pleione designs and my Otrera mittens and mitts use rear axis cables where strands of knit stitches cross. The tutorials also show you how to work these more simply (with a single cable needle) which might be just the tip you need if you're in a hurry or knitting on the go.
Next up are some tricks for keeping your cables neat and tidy. Do you suffer with a baggy knit stitch at the edge of your ribbing or cabling? You are not alone! This is a common problem and Something New to Learn About Cables gives you a number of options on how to combat this irritation.
Finally, we've given you stepwise photos of how to work the increases and decreases that are used for opening and closing the knot cables in Lucy Hague's glorious Pleione cowl and blanket patterns.
The Pleione blanket is cosy and perfect for snuggling under on the sofa. Image © Jesse Wild.
There are so many hints and tips to be found in Something New to Learn About Cables, and they are all accompanied by clear photo tutorials. You really will be able to develop your cable skills with every project!
As well as the book, we have kits for all the projects available in our online shop. The cowls both use 4 x 50g skeins of Socks Yeah! DK (kit including a project bag costs £24.00), whilst the blanket uses 12 x 50g skeins (kit including a project bag costs £65.00).
The first opportunity to get your hands on a copy of Something New to Learn About Cables will be at Edinburgh Yarn Festival from Thursday 15th March 2018, and we will be shipping all pre-orders containing a print book from Monday 19th March 2018, on our return from EYF. If you purchase an ebook, it will initially contain just a welcome PDF, and the complete ebook will be uploaded by Monday 19th March to coincide with shipping of the print copies.
The print + ebook costs £14.00 plus shipping, kits start from £12.00 and include yarn and a project bag, and the ebook only option is £13.99.
March 2022 Update: We are now managing whoelsale distribution in house. Our books are currently available from Purlescence (UK), Modern Daily Knitting (USA) and Strickmich (EU).