Yarns for Cables

What yarns are just right for cables? That’s a tough question! As with all things in knitting, there isn’t really a right or a wrong answer; there are just different options and different effects. Let’s look at some comparisons, so you can get an idea of what will work best for you.

Jump to the section you’re looking for:

1. What sorts of yarn are there?
2. Two different fabrics: a comparison
3. Yarn weights
4. Plies and spin
5. Light or dark colours
6. Busy yarns
7. Tweeds
8. Fluffy yarns
9. Why so much yarn?
10. The right yarn for the right project

What sorts of yarns are there?

There are LOTS of types of yarn. If you’ve taken a trip to your local yarn shop or hobby shop, you’ll have seen rows and rows of different yarns. It can be a bit overwhelming! There are animal fibers, plant fibers, and synthetic fibers. There are yarns with more plies, less plies, and single plies. There are yarns that are speckled, kettle dyed, hand dyed, and dyed in the wool. There are self-striping yarns, superwash yarns…the list is pretty endless.

So with all those options, which yarn is right for you? It depends on a lot of factors! What’s the climate you live in? What yarns are available? Do you have any allergies? What’s your budget? All of these are great things to consider when choosing a yarn.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of some yarns, with comparisons for how they work with cables. I’ve mainly swatched with yarns I had on hand, which means, for me, a lot of wool and animal fibers. This isn’t to say that plant fibres and synthetic yarns or blends won’t work. It just means I’ve got a bit more experimentation to do with those yarns!

A blockable fiber

When it comes to cables I look for a blockable fibre, something that will hold its shape once washed and dried. No idea what I’m talking about? Learn about blocking basics here.

In the images below, my swatch before blocking is on the left. The edges tend to curl a bit, and the cables are quite three dimensional. They ‘pinch in’. As shown on the right, the edges lay flat after blocking, and cables (while still raised) lay a little bit flatter as well.

Two very different fabrics

There is no singular yarn that is perfect for cables. There are lots of different yarns, all of them great, and they each have their own features. The two Antlers sweaters pictured above are a perfect example, with the same cable pattern at the yoke in very different yarns. The one on the left is knit in a plied, superwash merino yarn, and the one on the right is a sock weight yarn, held together with a lace weight cashmere yarn.

On the left, the cables really POP, and the sweater has a certain amount of structure to it. On the right, the sweater has a lovely drape, and the cables are a little more subtle, a little less three dimensional. The fabric is more open on the sweater on the right, giving the cables themselves a slightly different look.

There’s no wrong answer. It’s just a question of which look you want and what effect you want your cables to have.

Different weights of yarn

The swatches below show the same cable in different yarn weights. Starting at the top left and moving clockwise, we’ve got a cream swatch in chunky, worsted in yellow, a cream swatch in a DK weight yarn, and a wee pink sock swatch. Which weight of yarn you use is probably going to be determined by the pattern you choose, but it’s interesting to see what they look like in different weights. The lighter weight yarns have a bit more of a delicate look to them, while the heavier weight yarns have a bit more heft and bulk.

De Rerum Natura Gilliat is woolenspun merino that is spun just a bit tighter than Shelter. The cables are three dimensional here – a little less than the Tov and more than the Shelter.

Magpie Fibers Quartet Worsted is a plied superwash merino yarn. It’s soft but structured, and the cables really come out.

Farmer’s Daughter Fibers Pishkun is a more textured yarn, with two distinct plies. This has a unique effect on the cables. They aren’t smooth like in the Woolfolk swatch; they have a certain textural quality to them.

This swatch is La Bien Aimée sock yarn and mohair silk held together. The cables lay a little flatter in this swatch, and the fabric is very soft, light, and drapey.

Light or dark… does it really matter?

In addition to the physical qualities of each yarn, there’s also the question of colour. When Emily and I were discussing yarns for cables, our first instinct was to point out that cables look amazing in light colours. A cream coloured cable? It’s a classic! But the truth is that while cables photograph better in light colours, having a dark coloured cable hat or sweater is also really excellent! The bottom line is: knit what you like because in person, cables look great in both light and dark colours.

How busy do you like your yarn for cables?

Here come some personal opinions, so prepare yourself…

When I knit cables, I really prefer a yarn that has a consistent colour. I like a yarn that’s dyed in the wool or a very consistent hand dye. Yarns with lots of colour variations, like variegated or speckled yarns, tend to mask the cables, making them harder to identify. A simple yarn, colour wise, tends to show off those cables to their fullest. The swatch above is La Bien Aimée DK. It’s got a pretty subtle speckle, so it’s riiiiiight on the cusp for me.

Here I’ve got a swatch in Magpie Fibers Quartet Worsted and Sweet Fiber Cashmerino Worsted, both superwash merino yarns. The Quartet is quite consistent, while there is a little bit more variegation in the Sweet Fiber yarn.

Here’s a comparison of what that looks like in a finished knit. These are both Antler toques – one in a speckle and one in a solid.

The swatch below is in Spincycle Yarns Dreamstate, an ombré yarn with some marling in it. It’s a bit on the busy side for my taste, but the cable still comes through. Yarns of this nature are just a little harder to predict. Will it be too busy? Sometimes you have to get it on the needles to know!

So as you you can see, it’s a question of levels. A REALLY busy yarn will hide the cables, but subtle variations can be quite nice. While I prefer the hat on the right, Hunter sure did love her wildly colourful hat… so I’ll say it again: knit with what YOU like!

Tweeds and heathers

I love a good tweedy cable! Here are some examples of tweedy cables: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter and Julie Asselin Nurture. The tweed gives them a little extra depth without distracting from the star, the cable. The Shelter is a woolenspun yarn, so it’s a little more softly spun than the Nurture. The cables are slightly more subtle in the Shelter, while they are quite three dimensional in the Nurture.

For the love of fluffs

I’ve recently fallen in love with fluffy cables. The Hush sweater, shown above, is knit with a strand of sock yarn held together with a strand of something fluffy (mohair, suri, etc.), and as soon as it was on my needles, I was smitten. For a more structured fabric, you can knit this combination with a more rustic sock yarn, or you can use a softer sock yarn to achieve a more drapey look. With a bit of fluff, the cable tends to lay a little flatter and has less of a three-dimensional quality.

This cable pattern is calling for a LOT of yarn – what’s the deal?

Cables tend to ‘pinch in’ and use more stitches for the same surface area than stockinette – that’s why there are often drastic increases before a cable chart. Above, I’ve got two swatches that have the exact same number of stitches, in the same yarn, on the same needles, by the same knitter. You can see that the cable swatch is smaller than the stockinette swatch. In this particular cable, the difference isn’t too dramatic, but if there are more cables and tighter turns, the difference can be substantial.

This swatch shows different rates of cable turns. Right to left, I’ve turned the cable every 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th row. The size difference between a cable turned every other row (far right) and a cable that’s turned every 8th row (far left) is pretty drastic.

In short, cabled patterns need more stitches and therefore more yarn, so make sure you have enough on hand.

The right yarn for the right project

While there are definitely no rules, you might want to think about the nature of your project when choosing your yarn. A drapey sweater in a slightly looser, more open fabric can be great, but I’m not sure I’d want a drapey hat that lets the wind through. If you’re working on some cabled socks, you’ll want something sturdy, to stand up to hard wear. But a shawl? It can be whatever you want!

So, what’s the takeaway?

The important thing is to knit what YOU like. If you’re inspired by any of these swatches, or if there are some you can definitely rule out, you’re well on your way to figuring out which yarn is just right for your cabled project!