Review: Norah Gaughan’s Knitted Cable Sourcebook

Norah Gaughan is well known in the knitting world for her geometric feats of knitting. Her projects tend to turn knitting on its head in lots of different ways, so its no surprise that one of her particular obsessions when it comes to knitting is working with and designing cable patterns.

Her book Norah Gaughan’s Knitting Cable Sourcebook includes more than 150 original cable patterns, as well as instructions for 15 patterns to use them in. (See the patterns on Ravelry.)

The really cool part is that each cable pattern is shown in a large swatch, almost always with both written and charted instructions, and the book gives a Stockinette Stitch equivalent rating to each pattern, which tells you how many stitches in plain Stockinette the pattern uses up.

This is really cool because it makes it easy to substitute cable patterns in the projects. If, for example, you love the skirt but want to use a different cable, you know that the pattern used, called macrame, has an SSE of 32, so any pattern or patterns you want to use need to work out to 32 as well for the skirt to come out the same size.

Looking for more Cable-styled knitting patterns? Check out these Cable Knit Patterns on Etsy

The numbers are also helpful if you want to take a cable out of a project, because you know how many plain stitches need to replace it. If you’re designing your own projects you will still need to knit a swatch but you’ll have an idea of how much space the cables will take up before you begin.

I would say this is a book for experienced cable knitters who want to more deeply explore how cables are made and how to develop their own variations. While the basics of cabling are pretty simple, the patterns presented here get complicated pretty quickly, so a newer knitter approaching this book would need a lot of confidence to carry on. Information about which patterns are reversible or look good on the wrong side, how projects look worked in different yarns and variations on different cable patterns will be helpful to knitters of all skill levels.

The sections on getting started, yarn selection, chart reading and troubleshooting are helpful, and the patterns are nice. But looking through the stitch patterns is sure to inspire you to want to knit your own projects, whether a giant cabled sampler made out of a bunch of swatches, a slouchy hat with a giant cable or a delicate baby blanket with cables inspired by flowers. This is a msut have for cable lovers and might just turn some people who aren’t wild about cables (like me) toward the cable knitting camp.

About the book: 276 pages, hardcover, 15 patterns, 153 stitch patterns. Published October 2016 by Abrams, retail price $29.95.

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The felted slipper craze that began last year doesn’t seem like it’s fading away. The Sailor Slippers, often striped knit and felted slippers made with super bulky yarn, because the project of the moment late last year (check out more knit slipper options in this post all about sailor slippers) and they’re still consistently popular with knitters.

Which makes sense because they are fun and fast to knit, and seeing them go from this giant thing to something that actually fits a foot feels a little magical.

I have always loved felting (in fact my first book was about felting knitting) and it’s always fun for me to see people rediscover this technique.

If you’ve knit enough plain slippers to fit all the feet you know, maybe it’s time to stitch up some tabi style slippers instead.

Maymade Knits has designed these cute tabi ballerina slippers, made with bulky yarn and felted. They’re worked flat at first and then in rounds, and are available in 10 EU sizes (the Internet tells me add 31 to your American shoe size to get your EU size). The designer says the slippers are meant to have a close fit and you should choose a size a little smaller than your foot for the ideal fit.

The pattern includes a video tutorial along with the written pattern.

You can grab this pattern on Ravelry. The same designer has her own version of the striped felted slipper as well, called Sarah’s Striped Slippers. These are worked in super bulky yarn and have a contrasting foot and a striped body. These are knit flat and seamed and there are 7 size options available. Check that pattern out here if you’re looking for a more traditional slipper shape. They also look roomier so you can wear them with socks if you like.

[Photo: Maymade Knits]

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