Reversible Cables!

My sister very nicely gave me a subscription to Intervweave Knits for Christmas. Well, she actually gave me a subscription last year but never actually ordered it for me. So this year, I got a subscription for two years to make up for it! I'm working on my first pattern from the magazine. I have so much fun looking through patterns of such beautiful items - most are more sophisticated than anything I will ever make, but I always dream!

The 2009 winter edition of Interweave Knits has a great article in it about reversible cables, written by Lily M. Chin. Most cabled items I have knit have been hats, so you don't have to worry about the reverse side. I did make one scarf and hated the way it looked until I blocked it. But that experience did make me hesitant to try other cabled patterns on scarves. So I was very excited to come across this article. I must confess that I have not actually tried to make reversible cables yet. I have added it to my knitting to-do list, but it does scare me sometimes how long that list is! But sadly, I share this information with you and have no pictures to attach.

Ms. Chin likens cables to crossing your fingers. When you cross your fingers, it looks the same from the front and the back. She wanted to see if she could work her cables in the same way.  To make baby cables, Ms. Chin cables on both the right and wrong side of her work. It sounds pretty simple when you put it that way! To make larger cables, she recommends knitting in a ribbed pattern. Ribs look the same on the right and wrong side of your work and creates a reversible cable.

On her swatches, you can see a twist in the non-cabled section of the right side. I imagine some knitters may not like that. However, it does lay much flatter than a typical cabled swatch would. Ms. Chin does recommend going up in needle size when using these methods. Here are her instructions for trying this out:

Exercise 1 for Baby Cables:
Cast on 24 stitches.
Rows 1 and 2: *K2, p2; repeat from * across to establish rib.
On all subsequent rows, whenever there is a chance to create a cable, do so. That is, whenever you see 2 knits in a row, cable them:
Row 3: *Work a 1/1 right-cross cable over next 2 stitches, p2: repeat from * across.
Row 4: *Work a 1/1 left-cross cable over next 2 stitches, p2: repeat from * across.
Repeat Rows 3 and 4. Do not repeat Rows 1 and 2.

Exercise 2 for Single Rib Cables:
Cast on 12 stitches.
Row 1: K2, [k1, p1] four times, end k2.
Repeat this row for 1 inch.
Next Row (Cabling Row): K2, sl 2 stitches to cable needle and hold in front, [k1, p1] two times, then [k1, p1] 2 times from cable needle, k2.
*Repeat Row 1 for another 7 rows, then repeat the Cabling row*. Repeat from * to * for pattern.

What confuses me here is that cabling row. I think you need to slip 4 stitches instead of 2 to create an even cable (and use all the stitches on your needle). But again, I haven't tried this, so I could be overlooking something really obvious!

Exercise 3 for Double Rib Cables:
Cast on 12 stitches.
Row 1: Sl 1 pwise with yarn in front (wyf), k1, [k2, p2] 2 times, k2.
Repeat this row for 1 inch.
Next row (Cabling Row): Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, sl 4 stitches to cable needle and hold in front, k2, p2, then k2, p2 from cable needle, k2.
*Repeat Row 1 for another 7 rows, then repeat Cabling row*. Repeat from * to * for pattern.