How to knit reversible cables

A simple pattern to knit super easy reversible cable stitches

The classic cable stitch is one of my personal all-time favorite ways to embellish knitting. It’s way easier than it looks, and there is a sheer endless number of possible design choices. There’s just one big problem: cables are typically not reversible. That’s why I want to introduce you to a smart little trick that makes every cable pattern fully reversible.

The Basic Idea

First of all, let’s take a look at the two components of a standard cable. No matter if you are looking at horseshoe cables or honeycomb cables, a cable typically is pure stockinette stitch (so knit on the right side, purl on the wrong side) surrounded by a background of reverse stockinette stitch (purl on the right side, knit on the wrong side). This stark difference makes them so beautiful, but that’s also part of the problem because stockinette is not a reversible stitch.

To make cables fully reversible, you need to exchange both portions for something that looks good on both sides. For the cables, the trick is using 1×1 ribbing, while for the background, you have multiple choices. Garter stitch or seed stitch would be my recommendation.

The basic idea is knitting your cables across twice as many stitches, but since the 1×1 rib stitch easily contracts, it will appear similar to stockinette stitch. So a 4-stitch cable would require 8 stitches instead. It makes it a bit more difficult to cross the stitches, but you get rewarded with an identically looking wrong side.

The pattern

The following is the repeat for a basic pseudo 2×2 cable. Once you understand the concept, you can apply it to any other cable stitch as well.

• The core repeat (without any selvage stitches, etc.) is 12 stitches wide
• Row 1: [k1, p1] 6 times
• Row 2: p1, k1, [k1, p1] 4 times, p1, k1
• Row 3: [k1, p1] 6 times
• Row 4: p1, k1, [k1, p1] 4 times, p1, k1
• Row 5: [k1, p1] 6 times
• Row 6: p1, k1, [k1, p1] 4 times, p1, k1
• Row 7: k1, p1, [slip 4 stitches to a cable needle and keep it in front, k1, p1, k1, p1. Pick up the 4 stitches on the cable needle and k1, p1, k1, p1], k1, p1
• Repeat rows 2-7

So the key is crossing your cables as normal. The only difference is that your 2×2 cables are now 8 stitches wide instead of 4, and that you don’t just knit across but continue the 1×1 rib stitch pattern. If you prefer charts, this is how it would look:

Instead of seed stitch, you could also use garter stitch as a background. Naturally, you can also do a right cross where you hold the stitches in the back. Let’s take a look.

• Again, the core repeat is 12 stitches wide
• Row 1: k2, [k1, p1] 4 times, k2
• Row 2: k2, [k1, p1] 4 times, k2
• Row 3: k2, [k1, p1] 4 times, k2
• Row 4: k2, [k1, p1] 4 times, k2
• Row 5: k2, [k1, p1] 4 times, k2
• Row 6: k2, [k1, p1] 4 times, k2
• Row 7: k2 [slip 4 stitches to a cable needle and keep it in the back, k1, p1, k1, p1. Pick up the 4 stitches on the cable needle and k1, p1, k1, p1], k2
• Repeat rows 2-7

I leave it up to you which version you like better – garter stitch or seed stitch. At the end of the day, you could use any other fully reversible knitting stitch pattern as a background. Personally speaking, I feel those two look best.

Other cables

Nothing speaks against using this technique to knit wider or smaller cables. So, your 1×1 ribbing could be just 4 stitches or even 12 stitches wide. While the former definitely is a valid option, I would be hesitant to use the latter. Cables that wide typically constrict the fabric in a very noticeable way and are also very difficult to knit (because there’s just so much tension).

That being said, all other kinds of cable stitches, for example, ones where you cross into the background (instead of two sides of a cable; think of celtic knot designs, etc), are entirely doable!

That’s how to knit reversible cables. Comment below if you have any questions.