KNITmuch | Issue 01

Knitting with cables – C4R
The C4R is worked very similarly to
the basic C4L cable – a cable over
4 stitches that leans to the left.
Cable needles are easy knitting
tools to use!
Cable needles come in different
varieties, but all are essentially a
shorter needle that holds a small
number of stitches for a very short
time. Cable stitches are worked by
manipulating traditional knit and
purl stitches, so they don’t create
any new stitches, they just rearrange
them. Below, we’ll demonstrate
the C4R cable.
Just like the C4L, because we’re
working over 4 stitches, the first
step is to slip 2 stitches onto the
cable needle. Typical cables work
with half the stitches at a time (although
that’s not always the case).
When slipping your stitches, slip
them “as if to purl”, in other words,
slip them so that you don’t twist
the stitches in the process.
The next step is to hold the cable
needle behind the work, as opposed
to holding it in front of the
work for the C4L. You can see in
the two photos above how this
looks. Again, the first time you do
this might feel a little awkward, but
that’ll get easier with practice!
The next steps proceed just as we
did with our C4L before – hold the
stitches on the cable needle, then
knit the next 2 stitches from the
left hand needle like normal. The
stitches on the cable needle are
waiting patiently, just held in back
instead of in front.
Finally, transfer the stitches from
the cable needle back to the left
hand needle, and then knit those
stitches like normal. That’s it!
You’ve done a C4R. Hold it up and
admire your handiwork.
Depending on the pattern you’re
using, cable stitches might be
written down as ‘back’ or ‘front’
cables instead of ‘right’ or ‘left’.
This refers to the placement of the
cable needle rather than the visual
direction of the cable.
So, a “C4R” and “C4B” are the
same thing, just as “C4L” and “C4F”
are the same. It’s more typical for
contemporary patterns to use the
left and right terminology, but
there are decades of knitting patterns
out there to knit from, so it’s
good to know just in case.
Either way, cable needles are easy
tools to learn to use and I hope
you’ll enjoy knitting with cables
this coming fall and winter! Stay
tuned tomorrow for knitting fun!
C4L – C4R combination
34 KNITmuch | issue 1