# Woo Hoo! I made a cable (knitting) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926 "2008-12-12T20:08:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JimmyFlair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@JimmyFlair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyFlair)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/1 "2008-12-12T20:08:33Z")
OK, I’m sure it’s not that big of a deal for an experienced knitter, but for someone teaching herself to knit from books, it’s pretty cool! The cable looks a little drunk, it’s lopsided and ragged on one side, but hey, it’s a start! I should really use my Ravelry membership more I got the membership and then started the “Epic cross continental move, part I”, so I haven’t had a chance to really use it. But winter is here, and I may be moving to the end of the earth in a few weeks, so, I’m going to knit more in earnest. Who else is doing knitty stuff? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/2 "2008-12-12T20:16:14Z")
I can’t afford to buy yarn for myself this year, so I’m trying to drum up a commission or two just so I have a project. Will report back if I’m successful. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/3 "2008-12-12T20:16:24Z")
Cables are fun! And so satisfying when you’re learning! I’m just finishing off a pair of cable rib socks, following a pattern from [Favorite Socks](http://www.amazon.com/Favorite-Socks-Timeless-Designs-Interweave/dp/1596680326/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229112739&sr=8-1). Next up are the embossed leaf socks (which are gorgeous) and the Austrian socks from the same book. (The friend who gave me the book also gave me a pair of embossed leaf socks). This is in between finishing off a basic rib scarf and a wrap for Christmas presents - the wrap is from a pattern spotted in a yarn store. Although the pattern is really simple, I can’t get it to stay elegant and lacy - somehow everything keeps going nubbly, which is not the aim! ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/4 "2008-12-12T20:42:32Z")
Woo hoo, indeed! Cables are so cool, because they look so complicated and they really aren’t, once you get the hang of them. I have a baby afghan pattern that’s just all cables, all the way across. Looks great, but it’s not that difficult, once you get going. Good for you, adding another tool to the arsenal, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/5 "2008-12-12T20:49:41Z")
Yay, cables! Cabling is one of those things that really gives you a sense of accomplishment once you learn it, because it really is cool. “Hmmm…boring flat stockinette. Ho-hum. Oh, wait! Let’s do this, like…so…then do this…then bring this back around…Wow! Visual interest! How cool!” ---
**Author:** ![JimmyFlair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@JimmyFlair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyFlair)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/6 "2008-12-12T21:09:47Z")
They do look much more complicated than they are, don’t they? I feel a little more like a knitting “cool kid” every day! ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/7 "2008-12-12T23:59:27Z")
I just learned cables recently! They are so much fun and easier than I thought they would be. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/8 "2008-12-13T02:19:52Z")
I’m making a pair of cabled fingerless mitts (I was working on a cardigan but I screwed it up in a major way and have to frog it all, so I decided I’m not knitting anything else that takes more than one ball of yarn until after Christmas). I used to not like cables until I learned how to do it without a cable needle. Now it’s a lot more fun. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/9 "2008-12-13T04:10:31Z")
The only cable project I’ve done so far was a dishcloth. I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to learn how to cable, but I had a cable needle someone had given me and some leftover kitchen cotton, so I put the two together with a little creativity and created a dishcloth of my own design. Having therefore mastered the technique of cabling, I’ve not done it since. (There might be other factors as well. And, I’ve been knitting just under a year. But I’ve decided that there’s no technique too hard for me to try. Techniques too exasperating to make much use of ? Yes, those exist. But nothing too scary to even attempt.) ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/10 "2008-12-13T04:16:38Z")
What’s it’s bandwidth? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/11 "2008-12-13T04:45:58Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > I used to not like cables until I learned how to do it without a cable needle. Now it’s a lot more fun. \How do you do cables without a cable needle?\ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/12 "2008-12-13T04:54:04Z")
> [@Surok](#): > > \How do you do cables without a cable needle?\ It’s a little bit nervous-making, since it involves leaving half your cable stitches hanging in thin air for a short amount of time, [but it can be done](http://media.wendyknits.net/knit/cablelesson.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/13 "2008-12-13T05:58:16Z")
> [@Surok](#): > > \How do you do cables without a cable needle?\ I’ve seen it done…I didn’t like it because you have to leave stitches hanging and that made me nervous, like **jayjay** said. I don’t mind using a cable needle or a pencil or whatever is handy. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/14 "2008-12-13T13:39:01Z")
> [@chacoguy420](#): > > What’s it’s bandwidth? 😉 My binary-ish cabled dishcloth says 31 all over it. (It’s based on a binary cable hat, where cable crosses are 1s and non crosses are 0s.) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/15 "2008-12-13T14:29:53Z")
I’m also a newish knitter, and haven’t tackled cables yet – though was reading up on them just yesterday. At this exact moment, I’m sewing up the seam on the hat I knit for myself while watching a marathon of the British “Whose Line” yesterday. It’s supposed to be a beret, but I started getting nervous about running out of yarn so wasn’t spacing out the decreases quite as much as I should have at the end. Since, however, what I wanted was a hat that I can pull over my ears without it being tight to the head, I think it should work. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/16 "2008-12-13T23:24:40Z")
> [@Surok](#): > > \How do you do cables without a cable needle?\ [Here’s](http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/advanced-techniques) video showing it done (scroll down). I love that website. I taught myself basic knit and purl out of a book; everything else I learned from knittinghelp and Ravelry. I don’t know any knitters IRL. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woo-hoo-i-made-a-cable-knitting/476926/17 "2008-12-14T14:12:21Z")
I’m still afraid of cables. I have three cable needles, two of which I got free with Simply Knitting Magazine, but I haven’t even thought about using them yet. Too many other projects on the needles right now…a gnome, a Montego bay Scarf, a felted muff…did finish a baby hat, though.