How do I continue my colour cableS?
Keep on crossing and moving strands over as you go
To create the traditional cable pattern, we’ll cross the cable strands, before moving them apart again. By the end, you’ll be sketching out your own colourful charts.
Step 1 Let’s cross the cable strands on Row 6 (WS). Turn, using A, ch2, htr in 3 A sts, change to B, skip next 2 B sts, BPdtr around next 2 B sts, BPdtr around skipped 2 B sts, change to A, htr in last 4 sts, turn. You’ll see that the two strands have crossed over.
Step 2 Now we’ll look at how to move the strands apart again on Row 7 (RS). Using A, ch2, htr in 2 A sts, change to B, skip next A st (marked).
Step 3 Using B, FPdtr around next 2 B sts, change to A.
Step 4 BPdtr around skipped A st (the st marked in Step 2). Skip next 2 B sts and BPdtr around next A st, change to B. From the WS, you’ll see you’ve moved 2 A sts from the outside to between the cable strands.
Step 5 Using B, FPdtr around next 2 B sts – you might need to ease them out from underneath the upper B sts so you can work into them.
Step 6 Change to A, htr in next unworked A st – don’t work into the A st that already has the BPdtr around it. Htr in last 2 sts. Your cable strands are now further apart.
Step 7 Continue to move the cable strands apart on Row 8 (WS). Using A, ch2, htr in next A st, change to B, skip next A st (mark if desired), BPdtr around next 2 B sts, change to A, FPdtr around skipped A st (marked st), htr in each of next 2 A sts, skip next 2 B sts, FPdtr around next A st, change to B, BPdtr around skipped 2 B sts, change to A, htr in next unworked A st (don’t work into the A st that already has the FPdtr around it), htr in last st, turn. Your cable strands are now further apart, with 4 A sts between them.
Step 8 To finish off your practice piece, work the straight Row 9 (RS) as follows: using A, ch2, 1htr in A, 2FPdtr in B, 4htr in A, 2FPdtr in B, 2htr in A.
Step 9 If you want to continue our cable pattern, you can just repeat Rows 4-9. Otherwise, you should now be ready to turn almost any cable pattern into a colourful one, or create your own. Try using squared paper and coloured pencils to plan out how your cable strands will move across the fabric (as shown). You’ll find that the best colour cables have fairly narrow strands with plenty of background stitches between and around them so they stand out.