How to Make Stitch Patterns for Irish Knitting
Traditional Irish knit sweaters, commonly referred to as Aran sweaters, feature intricate cable designs. Although these knitted garments and accessories look complicated, if you know how to knit and purl, you can create cables and textured stitch patterns. Knitting a cable sample swatch will allow you to practice cable techniques you must know in order to knit Aran-style stitch patterns.
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Instructions
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Cast on 54 stitches for your Irish cable stitch swatch. Knit six rows in garter stitch (you will have three garter ridges).
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Set up for cable cords in the following row, which will be a right side (rs) row. Knit the first five stitches, and then purl four stitches and knit two stitches. Repeat the purl four, knit two pattern until you reach the last five stitches. Knit to the end of the row.
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Knit the first wrong side (ws) row as follows: knit five stitches, purl two stitches and knit four. Repeat the purl two, knit four stitch pattern until you reach the last five stitches, which you will knit.
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Knit the first and last five stitches of every row to create a garter stitch border around your sample swatch.
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5
Work the first row of cable lines. Knit five, then purl three, place the next stitch on a cable needle and hold to the back of your work, knit two, and purl the stitch from the cable needle. You've just moved your cable one stitch to the right. Repeat the above instructions to move all of your cables to the right and knit the last five stitches in the row.
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Repeat the row above to shift the cables further to the right. You now know how to create a right-leaning cable cord.
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Lean cable cords to the left using the following instructions. Knit five stitches, purl four, place two knit stitches on a cable needle and hold it at the front of your work, purl one stitch and knit the stitches from the cable needle. To lean the remaining cables to the left, only purl three stitches before placing the knit stitches on a cable needle.
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Practice making four-stitch cables.
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Knit five stitches at the beginning or the next row. Purl one stitch, knit four stitches and purl one stitch. Repeat the purl one, knit four, purl one pattern until you are five stitches from the end of the row. Knit the remaining stitches.
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Work the ws row; knit the first five stitches, knit one stitch, purl four and knit one stitch. Repeat until five stitches remain and knit to the end of the row.
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Cross the four-stitch cables while working the next row. Knit five, purl one and place two knit stitches on a cable needle. Hold the stitches to the back of your work, knit two and knit the two stitch from the cable needle. You have created a cable whose front crosses from left to right.. Hold cable needle and stitches to the front of your work to create a cable whose front crosses from right to left.
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Repeat the previous process until you reach the last five stitches. Then, knit to the end of the row.
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13
Cross the cables, using the above instructions, every four rows to create a four-stitch cable.
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Combine crossed cables and left and right-leaning cable cords to make Irish stitch patterns.
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Tips & Warnings
If you want to make an Irish stitch pattern with a crossed cable the spans more than four stitches, place the first half of the stitches on a cable needles. Knit the second half of the stitches and then knit the stitches from the cable needle.
