Okay, I promised cables and cables we have :)
Cable swatch
I was a bit nervous about this, you know, juggling different repeats and keeping everything in order. It didn’t turn out to be nearly the hassle I thought it was going to be. I wound up writing out all my charts by hand. I do have a printer, but it needs an ink cartridge and frankly, that money is better spent on yarn, in my opinion :) So I sat down with the charts for the various cables I wanted to use and copied them all out onto graph paper.
Cable charts
To tell the truth, I think doing it this way helped me to get a better feel for how things were going to go together. And it certainly helped with my fledgling ability to read charts comfortably. Though it took a few hours, I feel it was well worth doing!
I have made some substitutions for the cables that were originally suggested and for the most part, I’m happy with how they look.
OpenCable
I have no idea what this braid is really called, or if it even has a name. It’s the cable used in the Pinwheel Hat and I like it a lot - so I used it again here.
Fuschia and Baby Honeycomb cables
The Fuschia cable is simply my name for this. It comes from Stanfield’s The New Knitting Stitch Library which, sadly, appears to be out of print. The stitches aren’t named at all in this volume so I just slapped a name on it. The sweater is going to be worked from the top down so the cables will be upside down from the way they appear here. Turning this upside down reminded me of the fuschia flower a bit, so I called it that. I used this before in the Peony Purse. The smaller cables on the side are baby honeycombs worked over four stitches. Pretty cute :)
Saxon and Rope cables
The big cable here is the Saxon Braid, featured in Knitty’s Samus cardigan. As you can see, I’ve managed to foul up the crossings although I’m still not sure how it happened. I’ve gone over the pattern and I did copy it correctly. I want to work this through another repeat and see if I can figure out what I did wrong. Other than the crossings, I like the cable a lot and hope to use it (or maybe a doubled version of it) as the center cable of the sweater. The little borders are a two-stitch rope cable.
On tap for the weekend: working out the kinks in the Saxon braid, finishing the Dulaan socks and, maybe, starting another afghan :)
Happy Friday the 13th!
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Wow, you have been busy. I love all your cables, but especially Fuschia :)
another afghan? (insert tics and twitches here) while i bitch and moan about doing one you’re blanketing everything-
why am i not even surprised with that bobble i see? love your cables- i am especially fond of the baby honeycomb and the saxon cable- those have been faithful friends that have appeared in many things i’ve made-
when i chart cables i’ve found marking the chart with different colored pens for different cables helps-
stay happy-
I’m playing a little game with myself here at work ... it’s called “look at Robbyn’s swatch and try to figure out which cables she didn’t change.” LOL
Truely, I love the new cables, many of them more than the old. I’m still resisting the FLAK, but I don’t know how much longer I can hold out…
Oh yummy yummy, cables and bobbles and braids, Oh My!
I just love all the texture.
I think on the saxon they all do the same thing, ie, all cross on top on same row. And whatever you did last crossing you do opposite this one.
I have trouble counting the rows between. I get to relearn it everytime. The Saxon braid is my most favorite but a wide swath of teeny honeycomb is a close second.
I love coloring in charts. Hate it when I mess up though all that erasing…blech.
Thanks Pam - I love cables :) Couldn’t tell, could you?
Barb - Sorry - right now, crocheting an nice afghan seems like a great, mindless (and useful) kind of project. But I have also promised a good thick mat to put under the exercise bike. Poop - guess I’ll have to do that first!
Colleen - Heheh…well, the honeycomb and the little rope cable are the same :)
Aarlene - Well I’ll admit that I’m having second thoughts about the Saxon braid - not because I don’t like it but because I’ve been looking at Elsebeth Lavold’s cables. A quandry - how unusual - LOL!
Love your “Oklahoma” riff :)
I love your cable swatch. I just love toknit cables and watch them progress. The Fishermans Wool should make a nice sweater.
Maureen - Yeah, there’s something absolutely riveting about watching a cable take shape. I almost feel as though I’m building something - a stitch here and a stitch there and you wind up with something intricate and lovely where there only been 4 (6, 9, 18…) stitches before!
You came by my blog and told me you were now inspired by the colors I chose, well I have to say, I’m inspired by the work you have put into your cables and the pattern you’re drawing up! I’m still somewhat of a novice at knitting, so I’ve been reluctant to try my hand at designing, but you have inspired me. Thanks for coming by! I’ll be keeping up with your progress here.
BTW, color does do wonders for any “not so inspiring” pattern. ;)
Sedie - You’re so right about the ability of color to make the uninspiring interesting. One of the things that bothers me is the preponderance of greys and beiges I see out there. I know you want it to go with everything but jeez - wouldn’t a real color be nice? That’s why your scarf spoke to me - the color was so much more warm and lively than the original. More inviting too :)
Wow! Loved seeing all your cable swatches. Your “fuschia” is beautiful. Thanks for sharing your cable charts. Look forward to seeing more of your knitting.
