Learn to Knit: Cable Cast On

I’ve been exploring some knitting basics lately on my YouTube channel and I recently did a video on the cable cast on.

Cable cast on is similar to knit cast on, which is what I like to teach beginning knitters because it lays the groundwork for forming the knit stitch.

The only difference with cable cast on is that you go between the stitches to pull up you next loop instead of working into the previous stitch. If that doesn’t make sense, check out the video:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAPbxBdtQyo]

It always seemed to me that these cast-on methods were pretty much the same, that choosing one over the other was more a matter of preference than any real difference between them.

So I decided to compare the two to see what difference, if any, there was. As you’ll see in the video I worked the cast ons with the same yarn and the same size needle, and they look pretty much the same.

But that doesn’t mean they are the same. I was interested to see that the cable cast on was a lot less stretchy than the knit cast on. (I worked them one right after the other and tried to make them as similar in tension as I could.)

In the video I kind of make it sound like a firm cast on is a bad thing. There are a lot of times when we wouldn’t want to use a firm cast on, such as the bottoms of hats or the tops of socks, where we need extra stretch for things to fit our bodies.

But there are definitely times you’d want a firmer cast on. When working buttonholes, for instance, doing a cable cast on instead of a knit cast on might make the difference between floppy and firm buttonholes. I’m definitely going to try it the next time I need to cast on in the middle of a project.

Do you ever work cable cast on? Do you find it firmer than other options? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

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