All of the free patterns and tutorials on this website are supported by my amazing Patreons! If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be able to continue to produce or host freebies. We’d love to have you join us and in return, you get exclusive behind-the-scenes material, member-only discounts and early access to new free content. Membership starts at $1 per month. You can also say thanks for the freebie via the Tip Jar.

The principles shown here can be applied to any cable or twist, and once you’ve got the hang of moving the stitches without a cable needle, you won’t look back!

1) As you approach the point where the stitches will be twisted, stop just before the first stitch used in the manoeuvre.

2) Using your right hand needle, insert the needle into the stitches that need to travel – the ones you would normally put on a cable needle. Insert the needle into the stitches from the front. As this is a 6-stitch cable that crosses to the right, the stitches that need to travel are the second set of 3 stitches, that is, stitches 4, 5 and 6 of the cable.

3) Gently push both the stitches towards the tip of the left hand needle, keeping the right hand needle inserted in the stitches that will travel. Slip both sets of stitches off the end of the left needle.

4) Gently and quickly, catch the first 3 stitches with the left hand needle from behind.

5) Now place the 3 stitches that were held on the right needle back onto the left needle – the sets of 3 stitches have swapped places!

6) Now knit across the cable as you would normally – a 6 stitch, 3 by 3, right twist cable has been worked.

This same principle can be used for a left hand or front cross, where the stitches are twisted the opposite way, and just about any cable where the stitches are manageable without a needle.

For a front cross, you would approach the stitches that needs to be moved from behind, as this would give you a left hand twist.

Travelling stitches are approached in exactly the same way – lift the stitches to be moved from the front for a right twist, and from the back for a left. Anything over over 6 stitches might get fiddly, as you’ll have 3 or more stitches off the needle at any given point, and you may feel more confident using a cable needle for those manoeuvres.

Support

As always, if you have a question about this technique or need some help with it, leave a comment below! I’m afraid I’m unable to offer help via email or private message, but you’re welcome to post in our forum.

 

Print This!

If you’d like to print this free tutorial, either use the ‘Print’ button below or right-click in your browser, adjust the settings to suit your needs, and select ‘Save as PDF’ for a digital copy, or your printer for a paper copy. You can use the scale option to reduce or enlarge the font.