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!

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.

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