Stitch Easy Cables on Fingerless Gloves

Cable knitting is one of the basic skills of knitting that I think everyone should try once or twice. So many beginning knitters think that cable knitting is hard, and while it can be challenging when there are lots of twists and turns of different kinds in the same pattern, it’s actually not difficult as a concept.

All cable knitting asks of you is that you knit stitches in a different order than the way you normally would. This makes a twist that, through regular repetition, makes a cable pattern.

It’s a great idea to start learning about cable knitting with a simple pattern that includes just one or two cables across the work. That way you just have to focus on when and where to turn your cables one at a time, which makes it a lot easier.

The Thicket Fingerless Gloves from Mirella Moments are a good option for a first cable knitting project if you’re already comfortable working in the round. (And if you aren’t, why not learn two skills at once?)

These are fun because the cable is mirrored on each glove, with a right twist on one and a left twist on the other. That way in this one project you get plenty of practice with the mechanics of cables and you’ll be ready for a more complicated cable knitting project right away should you choose to try another.

This pattern uses worsted weight yarn and some in one size. The pattern doesn’t include a cable knitting tutorial but if you need more help than the description of how to do it, that’s easy to find elsewhere.

These mitts would be a great gift for that person who is always cold, too, so why not get a jump on your holiday knitting and whip up a pair?

The free pattern is available from Mirella Moments.

[Photo: Mirella Moments]

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I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn.

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small.

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches.

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come.

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you.

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?).

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry.

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns.

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]

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