Updating the blog with a long-standing upskill

Lately I've been getting back into crochet, to ease the stresses and strains of everyday life and I was determined to nail some of the things I hadn't previously managed to master. 

"Master" is probably a generous description of working on Crochet Cables. I've managed OK with knitted cables, but crochet cables are on a whole other level of complexity - or at least I thought!

One of the most frustrating things about online tutorials is that the tutors often skip steps, and they're often the steps that are the most important. For example the many cable crochet tutes out there always skip the important step for beginners - where those stitches actually go, and the importance of counting stitches accurately to ensure everything lines up (as you can see from my photo, I might have worked out the first bit but definitely didn't suss out the second bit!)

But once you understand the method, and once you work out the differences between US and UK terminology for what a double crochet / triple crochet / double triple crochet stitch is, you're well on your way to creating something cool. 

So this was worked across 12 stitches, with half double crochet stitches used as the foundation and the 'filler' around those crossed / cabled double triple crochet stitches. 

I started off by chaining 12 stitches, then missing the first two stitches off the chain on the return (standard practice). 

When it came to the crossover / cable stitches, the double triple crochet stitches are long purposely, because they need to 'reach down' to the row below. Working 6 of those 'standard' around the front posts of the row below is how you get those nice long tube-like stitches. For the first cable row you do these straight, but for the 2nd cable row you're crossing them over. Straight / cross / straight / cross and you get that wonderful interwoven look. 

This would be awesome for a scarf but does make a thick fabric. But beware of those stitch counts, for some reason I just ended up with extra stitches creeping in and I still haven't worked out how. 

Another piece of advice would be to use a slightly less colourful yarn! Sometimes I got lost in the complexity of this rainbow coloured stuff (which was just a scrap I had left over and wanted to use up for swatching). Even so, I can see the effect and definitely want another go!