# Loose cable stitches



## RachelL (Dec 18, 2011)

I've been reading all the wonderful tips and questions for a while now and am excited about receiving the forums every day.

I've been knitting for about 50 years and so far, my biggest problem is when I do a cable stitch, (eg. 3 st in front) the last st. knitted always seems much looser than the other stitches. Any suggestions?


----------



## Joy Marshall (Apr 6, 2011)

It is the nature of the brute. The only thing I do is knit that stitch as tightly as possible. If anyone had any other ideas i would love to hear them.


----------



## RachelL (Dec 18, 2011)

I've been doing that all along, but if that's normal I'll go w/that. I'm making a fisherman's knit for my grandson with wool that I got from his great-grandmother. So excited to be on this link. 

I'm mostly self-taught (only knit) and it's been so much fun to learn that some of what I do actually has a name to it. 

Thank you for responding so quickly. I so appreciate this link.


----------



## maxjones (Aug 2, 2011)

Joy Marshall said:


> It is the nature of the brute. The only thing I do is knit that stitch as tightly as possible. If anyone had any other ideas i would love to hear them.


I do the same thing. Would love to hear another solution, if there is one.


----------



## immunurse (May 2, 2011)

If your first and last cable stitches didn't have some "give" it would make the piece narrower at the cable rows. In a sweater, that wouldn't matter, but it would keep a scarf from having a straight edge.

In my never-to-be-humble opinion, that's how cables look. I think they also "even out" a bit after they are washed and blocked. I don't sweat it.


----------



## WolfDreamer (Mar 22, 2011)

I always knit the last stitch of the cable (the one right before the purl stitches) through the back loop. It helps to keep the stitches a little tighter, and makes the cable neat and tidy


----------



## sanaylor (Nov 24, 2011)

Welcome to KP. I have never tried cables.


----------



## Joy Marshall (Apr 6, 2011)

sanaylor said:


> Welcome to KP. I have never tried cables.


They are very easy to do. Anytime you want to give them a whirl and don't understand something, you know where we are.


----------



## btibbs70 (Mar 23, 2011)

sanaylor said:


> Welcome to KP. I have never tried cables.


Here's a dishcloth that I practiced on when I was learning cables.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lacey-cabled-sweater-washcloth


----------



## immunurse (May 2, 2011)

btibbs70 said:


> sanaylor said:
> 
> 
> > Welcome to KP. I have never tried cables.
> ...


That's darling!


----------



## moonsib (Sep 15, 2011)

Hi and welcome from the California Motherlode!


----------



## sanaylor (Nov 24, 2011)

Joy Marshall said:


> sanaylor said:
> 
> 
> > Welcome to KP. I have never tried cables.
> ...


Thanks! Actually, the next thing I want to learn is Entralac.


----------



## Joy Marshall (Apr 6, 2011)

sanaylor said:


> Joy Marshall said:
> 
> 
> > sanaylor said:
> ...


Again, you have come to the right place. Locally, I am known as the entrelac queen. There are lots of tutorials on the internet. When I learned over 20 years ago I couldn't find anything. I always tell people it is not hard but you have to kind of think outside the box. All you have to do is just do EXACTLY what the pattern says and don't try to second guess it. It looks intimidating and weird but it isn't really. Just different to what you used to doing.


----------



## aknitter (Jan 25, 2011)

A while back there was a wonderful woman who explained what she did. Thankfully I bookmarked it so I can share it with you here. I hope you find it as helpful as I do.

http://www.knittingparadise.com/t-44677-1.html

Anita


----------



## RachelL (Dec 18, 2011)

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it.


----------



## RachelL (Dec 18, 2011)

I've only ever knit sweaters and am doing my first scarf. The wash cloth is darling. Almost too cute to be used to clean anything.


----------



## usafwife (Feb 16, 2012)

First off, OP, welcome!



WolfDreamer said:


> I always knit the last stitch of the cable (the one right before the purl stitches) through the back loop. It helps to keep the stitches a little tighter, and makes the cable neat and tidy


I will definitely be giving this tip a go. Thank you


----------

