Customisation lesson with Gang Ambassador Kat

I’m been FASCINATED with cables since I started knitting. I remember trying a snood dogg (my first kit ever) and thought at the time how hard it was and that I’d never finish it. But once I figured out moss stitch everything clicked and I breezed through projects after project. Then I saw knitting EVERYWHERE and cable was the most interesting thing to me. Cable can totally be intimidating but the trick is to finding the perfect project and the perfect cable. (I think for both aspects the key is to go simple) the Montana Mittens are great because its basically a big knitted swatch!

To get started you need a couple of things:

Montana Mittens Kit 

5mm/8US needles this is a great pattern to try knitting in the round. If you’re not comfortable with this, I would stick with straight needles

Pattern I made a copy of my pattern so that I could draw on the grid and mark off where to place the cable

4 balls of Baby Alpaca I HIGHLY recommend investing in a ball winder (click here), since you need to knit this pattern with doubled strands. I bought it and love it!

Knitter’s sewing needle

Scissors

Cable stitch holders I bought this set of 3 from my local knitting shop (click here)

Before I started, I planned out where my cable was going to go and how the rest of the mitten would look like. The cable I did is called Double Cable and is 18 stitches wide, so the remaining stitches I decided would be the palm section of my hand (the cable showing on the top of the hand) I did the cable for 18 stitches, and then moss stitch for the remaining.

So to get started:

1. Cast on as indicated in the pattern

2. Your cable will be 18 stitches, so on the first half of your project you’ll place the cable, the second half will just be moss stitch. To create the double cable:

• Rows 1 and 3 (Right Side): Purl 3 stitches, knit 12 stitches, purl 3 stitches
• Rows 2, 4 and 6: Knit 3 stitched, purl 12 stitches, knit 3 stitches
• Row 5: Purl 3 stitches, slip the next 3 stitches to cable needle and hold in back, knit 3 stitches, knit 3 stitches from cable needle, slip the next 3 stitches to cable needle and hold in front, knit 3 stitches, knit 3 stitches from cable needle, purl 3 stitches
• Repeat Rows 1-6

3. Continue knitting your mitten in half moss stitch and half double cable as indicated in the pattern

4. Cast off and weave in ends

Repeat the pattern for second mitten. Be sure to check your cable direction vs what hand it goes on, so your cables run in the right direction!

Follow pattern directions for knitting and attaching the thumb piece.

Feel free to experiment with the width, frequency and length of your cables!

Happy knitting!

Kat

Xo