Cable Knitting...A New Adventure!

Leaving a comfort zone is never easy, but in my quest to find new knitted all-weather knitted items to make, I came across a cup-cozy pattern that incorporates cables, my worst nightmare!

Well, this sent me down a youtube rabbit-hole of cable knitting videos (with varying degrees of usefulness) and now, after several false starts, (and by several I mean like I pulled this damn swatch back like a dozen times) I think I have a good grip on 4-stitch cabling. Part of the process of learning to make these cables is also learning to read & interpret patterns/charts, so in that respect it is like language-learning to me...exhilarating yet scary, but damn if it don't feel good when you get it right!

I adapted this swatch from the pattern & video you can find on my new fave knitting website:

http://newstitchaday.com/4-stitch-cable/

For this swatch, I cast on 10 stitches (the pattern calls for a repeat on multiples of 8, so I added two stitches for a garter selvedge) and I alternated C4B & C4F in row 5. This little swatch only measures about 8" x 1":

This is the front

...and this is the back

I still have a long way to go to perfecting this cabling thing, but I think this is a good start. Coozies, here I come!! (And it's not often I say that....)

Ooh PS I decided to bind off the swatch right there & test it as a sort of pre-coozie (oof I really don't like how that sounds, but there you have it):

Saving the world really does make me thirsty tho...