Conquering Cables

I've been crocheting for forever but only started knitting about 3 years ago.  When I first started I made a simple netbook cover, a hat and a basket weave tea cozy, then I put down the needles swearing I would never knit again.  It was awkward and I already had mad crochet skills.  6 months later I gave it another try, something clicked and knitting no longer felt so foreign.  Now I usually have at least 1 knitting and crochet project going at once.  It really frustrates me when people are elitist about one or the other.  I feel that each has their strengths and weaknesses, it all depends on the project.

One place where I feel knitting is superior is cables.  You can make cables with crochet but it's not quite as smooth and aesthetic.  The main reason I even learned to knit was to enter the world of beautiful cables.  In my mind cabling was limited to those who have mastered the art of knitting and that I would need more knitting under my belt to even try.  Well, this fall cables came crashing down from their pedestal because when I actually looked at how a simple 3/3 cable is done I felt almost cheated.  "Why, this isn't hard at all!"  And I proceeded to teach it to my sister whose knitting was limited to the purl and knit stitch.  I'm sure cabling becomes more complicated when you get into different types but seriously, I don't know why I syked myself out of trying them earlier.

The first project I made cabling was a pair of mittens.  I looked around but didn't find quite the right pattern so I just made one up.  Granted I have never made any sort of gloves but I just went ahead and did it.  They turned out beautifully!  Red and gorgeous with detailed cables all around.  I gave them to my mother for Christmas and neglected to take any pictures. BLURG!

But THEN I made a pair for myself!  Actually I made a pair of finger-less gloves for myself leaving them open and adding ribbing to the end.  Not quite as classic as the mittens but I support finger freedom.

Seattle's skies were blue today! (and I'm pretty happy with my gloves too)

palm shot

in action

Now I'm working on the scarf  below for Aaron (can you tell from this post that we both like green?)  We found a free pattern he liked HERE on Ravelry.  It uses the same simple 3/3 cable that I used for my gloves.  I might make this weave scarf for myself next, a new, different, and beautiful type of cable to learn.

The start of Aaron's Mr. O'Leary's scarf