Swatch 15 -- Fancy Cable

Other knitters probably all get this question, especially from non-knitters:  "How long did that take you to knit?"

The answer is seldom precise or satisfying; knitters that I know don't keep a journal of the minutes and hours they knit, but of the projects and its recipient, as in "scarf for Dad, 2008, his 65th b-day." And with a closet filled with UFO's -- those cast aways waiting for attention -- it's nigh on impossible to remember the projects, much less the time you spent on each one.

In this case, though, I can say that Swatch 15 took 2 hours.  And that included some time spent writing down the pattern (a requirement.)  So here's the 2 hour swatch:  a couple of Fancy Cables, each one a mirror image of the other.  Notice how the ropes/cables twist in opposite directions.

Can you see the twists and in opposite directions?

This swatch is the one that allows me to choose my own cable.  So I searched my reference books and stitch libraries and found a couple of candidates.  TKGA instructions listed at least 6 'boundaries' on the choice of cable, 'demanding' that I get two of the cable pattern across a row of not more than 32 stitches.  This greatly reduced the options.  

Reading closely I discovered I could use an original design, as long as I explained this fact.  So I used Potter Craft's 6-Stitch Fancy Cable which used 9 stitches (don't even ask for that reconciliation!) and decided to take another 9 stitches, do the same cable but twist everything in the opposite direction.  Mirror images!  Here's the book and a closeup of the swatch.

You probably won't be able to read the text, but wanted to show you what a knitting reference looks like when it's well-used.  This page shows the text, the chart, a picture of the cable (and isn't that one nicer than mine, groan), and a sticky note with stitch count, and if you look very carefully some ball point pen notes right in the text.  If you're a buyer of used books this one would come with the comment: some tiny notes on a few pages.

Today I will bind off the last row (get rid of all the stitches in a way that prevents unraveling of the entire piece of work.)  Swatch 16 -- yes 16, not 15 -- introduces colors, so at least the pictures will have more appeal.

Speaking of colors -- we're still all gray and foggy here.  I'm pulling out Christmas decorations slowly.  Each window along the front of the house has battery-operated flickering candles to light the way for the Holy Family to reach our hearts.