How to knit horizontal cables

A step-by-step tutorial on knitting cables sideways – two different versions

Most advanced beginners know how to knit the classic cable stitch. It’s one of these things that look complicated but is remarkably easy. However, all these cables are vertical and won’t help you if you want to create horizontal cables to embellish the cuffs of your sweaters or socks sideways.

Now I have some good and some bad news for you: There is a rather easy way to knit cable-like structures horizontally. These simple braids can be 1, 2, and possibly even 3 stitches wide. The bad news is that I am not aware of a feasible way to make them cross. So, it will be a raised straight line (similar to a Latvian braid) but no left- or right-crossing true cables.

Let’s show you how it’s done.

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Instructions: How to knit a horizontal cable

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This method creates a very slim cable structure that is only 1 stitch wide. You can only knit it sideways in one direction. You cannot incorporate any cable crosses.

Active Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Materials

• Any yarn works. I am using the Schachenmayr Catania Grande in this tutorial

Tools

• It's easier with relatively sharp needles. I am using the Knitter's Pride Dreamz here because they work well on camera.

Instructions

1. Start your horizontal cable by casting on one stitch with a knitted cast-on.
   
   
2. Insert your right knitting needle into the second stitch on your left needle from BEHIND.
   
   
3. Knit a stitch through the back loop like so, and keep all loops on the left needle.
   
   
4. Knit a normal knit stitch into the first stitch on your left needle.
   
   
5. Drop the two remaining loops off your left needle.
   
   
6. Slip back one stitch to the left needle purlwise (point-to-point) with yarn held in the back.
   
   
7. Knit the new second stitch on the left needle through the back loop coming in from behind.
   
   
8. Knit the first stitch on the left needle.
   
   
9. Drop the two worked stitches off the left needle.
   
   
10. Repeat steps 6-9. Finish the horizontal cable with an SSK.
    

Notes

Make sure to maintain a nice tension. Remember to tighten up after each stitches knitted from behind. Those tend to end up quite loose (because you need to reach all the way around). So before you knit that first stitch as normal, give your working yarn a good tug to tighten things up.

It’s rather easy to end up with one row of super loose stitches in the immediate row after the horizontal cable. By pulling on the “Vs” of the braid, you can loosen up the cable and tighten up the stitch right after it.

2-stitch horizontal cable

The first method creates a rather slim braid. If you want something a little bit wider, you have to adjust the technique slightly. Basically, you simply have to cast on more stitches and slip back more stitches with each pass. Here’s how:

Step 1: Cast on 2 stitches with a knitted cast-on.

Step 2: Knit into the third stitch on the left needle from behind/through the back loop.

Step 3: Then, knit into the first stitch on the left needle.

Step 4: Drop the loop you’ve just worked as normal. Two loops should be remaining on the left needle.

Step 5: Knit into the new first loop on the left needle.

Step 6: Drop the remaining two loops off the left needle.

Step 7: Slip back two stitches purlwise (point-to-point) with yarn held in back.

Step 8: Knit into the third stitch on the left needle from behind and through the back loop.

Step 9: Knit the first stitch and drop it.

Step 10: Knit the new first stitch on the left needle.

Step 11: Drop the remaining two loops off the left needle.

Step 12: Slip back two stitches purlwise with yarn held in back.

Step 13: Repeat steps 8-12 and finish the braid with a left-leaning double decrease.

Please note that it’s quite normal that the immediate row after the cable will look quite loose. While you can try to tighten up the stitches after the one you’ve knitted through the back loop, that will typically not be enough. You will have to go into each little braid stitch and tighten things up manually later on, in my experience.

Theoretically speaking, you could also cast on 3 stitches and then slip back 3 stitches with each pass. However, that often tends to look a bit too sloppy. Give it a try but I personally am not convinced it’s a truly viable technique.

How to knit true horizontal cables

If you want to knit actual cables horizontally, you need to employ a trick. Basically, you actually need to knit sideways and join the two pieces of fabric as you go. Here would be the pattern for the swatch above:

• Cast on 10 stitches with a knitted cast-on
• Row 1 (RS): K1, p2, k4, p2, SSK (you work the SSK through the last stitch of your midproject cast-on and the first stitch on your old knitting needle). [Turn work around]
• Row 2(WS): SSP, k2, p4, p2, k1 (again, work the SSP through one stitch from your old needle and one from your new cast-on).
• Repeat these two rows and cross cables whenever you feel like. E.g. Row 5: k1, p2, C2F, p2, SSK

Attention: Your row gauge is always different than your stitch gauge. To prevent your fabric from puckering, you’ll have to work the decreases through a strand between two stitches in every third or fourth row (depending on your gauge). As an easy fix, you could also go up a needle size or two.

Once you’ve finished the row, you can bind off the 10 stitches. From there, you need to pick up stitches from your garter stitch edge. Knit a standard 1-stitch sideways cable (as detailed at the beginning of this article) to create a smooth transition to the rest of the fabric. Pay attention to the fact that you pick up as many stitches as your project was wide originally.

Anyway, that was how to knit cables sideways. Comment below if you have any questions