Cables

Recently, I've bought two books which will, hopefully, help me improve my skills in machine knitting. These two:

 

The first one is a new book which is all about how you can make a huge variety of stitches on the knitting machine without the need for fancy extra tools. Different stitches are arranged in chapters according to sort and clearly explained with photographs and work schematics. The text is also clear about whether or not you need a double bed machine for a certain kind of pattern (really useful for me because I only have a single bed machine)

The second book is no longer in print but used ones are easily available. The title suggested it's what I want and there was a rather informative review about it as well, so I decided to try it.  

So far, I've looked through both books and each seems promising in its own way. I was thinking it might be a good idea to sit down and read them properly before starting on anything, but I couldn't control myself.

You see, ever since I first tried knitting (hand knitting, a few years ago), I've wanted to make something with cables. As I've explained before, hand knitting wasn't my kind of thing.

When I bought the knitting machine and studied its manual, I was inclined to believe that knitting cables required some kind of implement not included in this particular set. Until I found a book about knitting machine stitches in the library. In it, there was the suggestion that you could knit cables on a knitting machine by manipulating the stitches by hand using the two and three eye tools. I tried using that book and got some result, but the instructions were rather sketchy so the real method still wasn't clear to me.

Now, using my new book (in which cables are chapter four or five), I've started to make swatches systematically.

These are not cables. They are what the book calls 'rehung stitches'. Basically you knit for a number of rows, then pick up certain stitches several rows down and put them back on the needles. Either on the needle they came from or on one to the side of it. You can get pretty cool effects that way but unfortunately, it pulls in your knit work lengthwise and compromises its vertical stretch. So, it's not an effect which will work well in any kind of project.

These are my cable swatches:

Rope cables: single, parallel and opposing.

And serpentine cables: single, parallel and opposing. 

On my single bed machine, I have to leave the stitches right next to the cables un-knitted. I can purl them by hand later. On the swatches, I didn't feel like doing that everywhere, so you can only see the actual effect of a cable in the fabric on the single rope cable and the opposing serpentine one.

I want to try some less standard kinds of cables next and then try and design a very simple sweater or cardigan using several varieties of them... Wish me luck!