cables

[zats_clear]

 Ok, my lovelies, I have decided to try out dpns and make myself up a pair of fingerless gloves.  After MUCH searching, I found a pattern that fits the bill for my very first pair (oh Ravelry, how many hours I spend with thee), Hope's Fingerless Gloves (lookie, I put in a link for the non-Ravelry crowd, you odd people!) and set to work.

Using the dpns was like driving a clown car full of puppies but I did get the hang of it and the stitches settled down after the first few rows and then...I began to cable.  I like to learn at least two new tricks per project or I am an martyr.  The second row, I noticed that my cabled stitches were abominably tight so I have questions.

Should I be knitting fairly loosely when I cable?  Is it really supposed to hurt this much?

I will fess up that I am using number 6 needles for a project calling for 8's but when I pulled it off the needles, the cuff fit nicely with some excellent stretch and I have small hands.  And for those who like to know these things,  I am using Mirasol Akapana for my yarn.

thanks in advance!

Comments

[aedifica]

I don't know if it's supposed to turn out that way, as I have done precisely two cabled projects ever, but I had the same issue. I too was making fingerless gloves (different pattern, I used Cheryl Niamath's Fetching) and the first pair actually turned out a little too small for me because my knitting-with-cables was tighter than my straight-knitting gauge swatch led me to expect.

[zats_clear]

Fetching is on my list but Hope's was infinitely easier for a first time with dpns!

[twistedchick]

If it's hurting you, you're certainly stretching the yarn too tight. It should not hurt. The cables should lie across one another without excessive pulling. If it's that tight now, what will it be when they're on your hands?

[zats_clear]

I should, perhaps, have been more clear! It was hurting my brain, really. But the cabled stitches were hard to knit from when I was on the next round, which leads me to believe that I should be knitting cables loosely. I am not an overly tight knitter, thank goodness. The big thing is that, when reading any instruction on cables I have found, I am not seeing anything indicating I should knit them a bit looser. Then again, I have also discovered there are things in the knitworld that are "just understood."

thank goodness for you guys!

[aedifica]

And that one is pretty, too. I might make that one someday now that I've seen it!

[indywind]

I'm a relatively new knitter and I haven't cabled (though I have done stranded colorwork which seems to have similar tension issues), so take anything I say with however much salt makes it taste sensible.
I keep hearing that consistent gauge is the mother of all knitting success, and that the knitter should either tighten/loosen her tension, or go up/down sizes of needles to get the desired gauge for a pattern so it'll work right.

So my guess is if you think your cables are too tight, knit them looser, or go up a needle size or 2, just for that part (less of a pain with dpns, once you get used to them sticking out all over). Not so much because there's some secret rule that Cables Should be Knit Loosely, but because apparently they come out tight for you. Somebody else's cables might come out loose and need to be knit tighter.

[tephra]

When I first started knitting cables without a cable needle they ended up very tight. I think it was mostly because I was subconsciously tense about dropping stitches and as a result was knitting my cables tighter than my regular knitting. Once I realized that and consciously made myself knit the cables loosely (therefore making them match my normal tension) it cleared up. Now I don't have the problem.

That said, I'm still a tight-ish knitter and I don't know how anyone can do more than maybe 4 stitches over 4 stitches without having an ungodly tight cable.

[ames]

My theory is that there is no such thing as knitting more loosely or tightly than normal. You're going to revert back to your standard tension, it's inevitable. If you need to be looser, you'll have to change needles, full stop.

The first row worked after a cable twist can be a little tight, and especially so if you're working in the round in a tight gauge, but it shouldn't hurt. I'd suggest checking your gauge and being brutally honest. Cables aren't that stretchy - the bit where the twist is isn't going to give like ribbing does. And don't forget that your hand is wider than your wrist - unless the pattern accounts for that by having you add in stitches (which most fingerless mitt patterns don't, in my experience), what is snug on the wrist could well be unbearable on the hand.

So - check your gauge. If you're not hitting it, then you need to go up an needle size.

[zats_clear]

it seems to be knitting along just fine now. I was trying out two new things, dpns and cables so I did knit that first cable row tighter than I should have. The "hurt" was in my brain!

I need to take a pic of the one I am working on actually on my hand. It looks really cool with the thumb on the stitch holder and all the dpns sticking out!

*we are the Borg, we will assimilate you*