Have you ever wanted to make a garment with cables, but you are not into knitting? Well, it can be done with crochet too! You can use crochet cable stitch to add texture and interest to hats, scarves, bags, cable blankets, and sweaters. In fact, you can add crochet cables to absolutely anything!

Crochet Cable Stitch Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to crochet cable stitch.

Supplies to Crochet Cable Stitches

Crochet hook, suitable for the weight of your chosen yarn. Your ball band on the yarn will recommend a size.
Yarn needle.
Scissors.
Yarn in the color of your choice.

Abbreviations for Crochet Cables

All stitches in this article are using US terms.

Skill Level for Crochet Cables

Intermediate. You will need to know how to work post stitches and will have to concentrate fully because when crossing stitches, you are working them out of order. Not ideal to work while watching TV!

Tips and Tricks for Crocheting Cables

1. START SMALL - Try doing a cable stitch on a small piece that you don't care if you mess up and that you can rip out as many times as you need to finish the stitch. Start with small projects that don't need to be sized so you can see how the stitches weave in front of and behind each other to make the cable's textured detail. A dishcloth, a headband, or a pillow cover are all good things to try cabling on.

2. CROCHET LOOSELY - Use a slightly looser crochet gauge so you can move your hook to work in the post of the stitch in front of or behind the stitch as directed. When making long stitches, pull the yarn on your hook tight before making the next stitch to prevent holes and gaps. It’s a delicate balance between working loosely enough to allow your stitches to cross over, and not leaving any holes or gaps!

3. YARN CHOICES - Choosing the right yarn for your crochet cable project can make or break it. Choose smooth worsted weight yarns in a single color to make cabling easier. For a beginner, it can be hard to work with lightweight or bulky yarn because it can be hard to control. When you crochet with fuzzy, textured yarn, it can be hard to see where your stitches are and where to put your hook. Stay away from dark colors and yarns with different colors so you can see your stitches. Even though cables made with variegated yarn look great, you should wait to use them until you are more skilled at making cables.

4. COUNTING - Be careful when you count your stitches. Because you have to skip stitches and then work backward in the stitches you skipped, it's easy to miss a stitch and lose track of how many you have done. At the end of each row, count your stitches to make sure you keep the right stitch count.

How to Crochet Cable Stitch, Step by Step Instructions

In order to crochet a cable, you do need to know how to crochet post stitches.

How Post Stitches Work

A post is part of a stitch that goes up and down between the loops on the previous row. A crochet post can be either front or back, depending on where you put your hook when you make the stitch.

Front Post for Cable Crochet

When making a front post stitch, you move your hook from the front to the back of the work and then around the post of the stitch from the row before. This gives the work's front a raised ridge.

Back Posts for Cable Crochet Stitch

For a back post stitch, you move your hook from the back of the work to the front and then around the post of the stitch from the row before. This makes a raised ridge on the back of the work.

How to Crochet Cables

Here is the free crochet cable pattern. It will show you the basic cable crochet stitch using front post and back posts.

Step 1: Foundation

For your practice swatch, make 15 chains. Turn.
On the third chain from your hook, double crochet. In every stitch, double crochet.
Turn, chain three (this counts as your first dc), skip the first stitch, and dc in each stitch until you reach the end of the row. Turn.

This will form your foundation of 2 rows of double crochet.

Step 2:

It's now time to start the first half of the cable twist.

Chain 3, then double crochet in the following 4 stitches.

The next three stitches are skipped.
Fptr (front post treble crochet) into the next three stitches. Work loosely!

Three first fptr cable stitches should be slanted to the right. It's now time to finish the cable twist.

Step 3:

Return to the first of the three skipped stitches and fptr into it. Then fptr into the second and third stitches.

As a result, the stitches will slant to the left. Avoid pulling the stitches too tight. This will make inserting the hook through the post difficult. Keep working loosely! The first half of the cable is now complete.

Double crochet in the remaining stitches until the row is finished.
Turn.

Step 4: Wrong Side

Chain 3 stitches, then double crochet in the following 4 stitches.

Bptr into the following six stitches.

Double crochet all the way to the end. (4dc)
Turn.

Crochet Cable Stitch Pattern from Back (ws)

Step 5:

The crochet cable stitch is now finished. Repeat as many times as necessary to reach the required length of your piece. Work two rows of double crochet to finish.

Crochet Cable FAQs

Do You Need Cable Needles to Crochet Cables?

Knitters usually add cables to sweaters, scarves, baby blankets, Afghans, bags, and more. These things can also be made with crocheted cables. You don't need a special cable needle to make them like you do to knit cables. Just use your ordinary crochet hook.

Do Cable Stitches Use a Lot of Yarn?

Crochet cable stitches do use more yarn than an equivalent size piece of ordinary crochet. Because you are crossing stitches over each other, you are effectively creating a double layer in that crossover area, which will use more yarn.

How Can I Use Crochet Cables?

Adding cables to a crochet project is a great way to give it texture and make it more interesting. Most of the time, cable stitches are used to make sweaters, Afghans, and other garments.

Here are a few great crochet projects that can be made even better by adding crochet cables:

Try using your creativity and see what you can come up with!

Crochet Cables - In Conclusion

There are many, many different crochet cable patterns to try, and each has a different, distinctive look. This article has only touched on one very basic cable, suitable for crocheters new to this technique.

With crochet cabling, taking it one stitch and one row at a time will help you get better. It is definitely a case of “practice makes perfect”! So, now it's up to you. Try cabling crochet stitch, and see how satisfying it is. Once you get the hang of it, you'll be “hooked.”!