I’m a little new to cable knitting and every time I knit a cable swatch, it always comes out sloppy. There’s always loose stitches around the cable and then the actual cable part comes out too tight even though I didn’t pull the stitches that tight. What could I be doing wrong and how can I prevent this?
3 Comments
practice and time
Make sure your cable needle is in the same size range as the needles you are using for the rest of the swatch and make sure you aren’t twisting the stitches when you move them and take them off the cable needle. It is normal for the next row after you have done a cable cross to be tight just keep knitting in pattern and your stitches will even out when you block the piece.
One reason for the looseness is that you are switching from knit to purl and back ,and for some reason this often changes tension. Also, at the cross of a cable you get tightness because you are pulling the stitches over a greater distance than the rest of the rib that becomes the cable. This should even out a bit when you wash and block the piece. Another trick is that on the row back, twist the stitch on each side (that would be a purl stitch on the front) as this can help take up some of the gap.
Plus, the yarn you use can have an effect. A plant-fibre yarn such as cotton or linen has less give and will show more stress. Animal fibres such as wool generally spring into place more effectively.
Otherwise don’t worry – some cable patterns even take advantage of this effect and require the gaps!
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