Men Who Knit Promoting and inspiring the art of knitting amongst men.

Cables always add such great dimension to sweater, beanies, scarfs and throws/blankets. Only problem with them, especially in the scarfs and throws/blankets department, the back side of the Cable looks "ODD" and lacks taste in comparison to the front side of the project.
1 front

2 back

Here's a great technique for those Afghans/Throws/Blankets/Scarfs to make your cables "REVERSIBLE"!!! YES!!! REVERSIBLE!!!

A quick baby blanket pattern I designed involves all the basics
Refering to front of project
Diagram "rough" instructions X:Garter V:Knit P: Purl C: Cable Section
XXXXVVVVVVVVVVPPCCCCCCPPVVVVVVVVVVPPCCCCCCPPVVVVVVVVVXXXX
XXXXVVVVVVVVVVPPCCCCCCPPVVVVVVVVVVPPCCCCCCPPVVVVVVVVVXXXX

this is roughly the pattern...and will look something like this

From Knit Projects

Problem is on the cable section, the reverse side that or purled cable side does not look correct, so, what to do? How about lets
****RIB THE CABLE SECTION****
in a 1X1 ribbing, the front and back of the cable section will look the same for both sides. SO, here's a visual for you of the RIBBED CABLE SECTION VERSES THE STANDARD CABLE SECTION

*Viewed From Front
VVVVVV
VVVVVV
VVVVVV
VVVVVV
VVVVVV
VVVVVV
VVV/VVV <---twisted row. slip on cable needle
VVVVVV and repeat

Vs.

VPVPVPVPVPVP
VPVPVPVPVPVP
VPVPVPVPVPVP
VPVPVPVPVPVP
VPVPVPVPVPVP
VPVPVPVPVPVP
VPVPVP/VPVPVP <---twisted row. slip on cable needle
VPVPVPVPVPVP and repeat
keep in mind you knit the knits and purl the purls on the cable needle to keep the consistent cable ribbing.

There are added stitches to this, so you may want to extend the cable a few more rows so the width is equivalent to the twist. Here is a little view of what it will look like

FRONT
BACK

This works in 6, 8, 10, 12 width stich Cables and it even works with Plaited Braids if you look for a challenge

Plaited Braid 18 stitches link on how to do the Plaited Braid

Ribbed
10 stitch width Ribbed Cable

I hope this helps you all out there who want a Knitted Cable Blanket or Scarf to be TRULY REVERSIBLE!!!

Thanks for reading
and Happy knitting

Jared Hurlburt ;-)
P.S. If anything here is too complicated, Please let me know so I can revise the instructions