Twist: a cable knitting stitch pattern

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The word I drew from the words suggested on Patreon for this post is Twist, suggested by Kate, a Patreon supporter. I was hoping to make another cable pattern with decorative lace, but with the available chart possibilities, a complex cable with no lace made the most sense.

Each month, my Patreon backers have the chance to suggest words for me to encode as knitting stitches. A random number generator helps me choose which word I will encode from these, and then I get to work, first turning the letters into numbers, then charting the numbers onto grids in various ways. Finally, when I make the chart into cables, I divide each coded square into four squares on a knitting chart. I turn the marked squares into cables and work out how to make everything flow. I also made a Twist charted design for any craft that uses a square grid for designing.

The stitch patterns are not meant in any way to look like the original words; the words are the seeds of my creativity.

knitted sample of the Twist cable. vertical bands of interlaced diamonds have vertical borders that sometimes cross over and weave in and out of each other.
Chart showing how to work the Twist cable by means of special symbols. Written instructions in blog post.
click chart to enlarge

Notes:

  • The 1/1 cable crosses with two knit stitches are the part that shows the code; I’ve highlighted them in light grey; any cable crosses in the chart that aren’t light grey have one knit stitch and one purl stitch and are not code.
  • Some of the cable crosses are mirrored across the stitch pattern; others are not. This is deliberate because of how the interlacing works in the design.
  • Because of the complexity of the design, and that there would otherwise be wrong-side 1/1 cable crosses, I felt it would be better to write this stitch pattern in the round.
  • This is a stitch pattern such as might be found in a stitch dictionary. It is not a pattern for a finished object.
  • Twist is a multiple of 12 + 14 stitches and 30 rounds.
  • there are four diamond designs that look quite similar vertically stacked above each other in each vertical repeat. They are not the same combination of stitches or round counts every time. The code constrained how many rounds were available for each diamond.
  • I’ve made a stitch map for Twist.
  • Designers, please feel free to use this in your patterns. I’d like credit but won’t be offended if people don’t give it.
  • My blog posts and free stitch patterns are supported by subscriptions on Patreon or donations to my Paypal tip jar in the sidebar. If you appreciate my work, please consider helping out. Thanks!

Abbreviations:

  • 1/1 LC: Slip next stitch to cable needle and place at front of work, knit 1, then knit 1 from cable needle.
  • 1/1 LPC: Slip next stitch to cable needle and place at front of work, purl 1, then knit 1 from cable needle.
  • 1/1 RC: Slip next stitch to cable needle and place at back of work, knit 1, then knit 1 from cable needle.
  • 1/1 RPC: Slip next stitch to cable needle and place at back of work, knit 1, then purl 1 from cable needle.
  • k: knit.
  • k1‑tbl: knit 1 through the back loop to twist it.
  • p: purl.

Round 1: k2, p2, k1‑tbl, p1, 1/1 LC, *p1, k1‑tbl, p2, k2, p2, k1‑tbl, p1, 1/1 LC; work from *, p1, k1‑tbl, p2, k2. (26 sts)

Round 2: k2, p2, k1, 1/1 RPC, *1/1 LPC, k1, p2, k2, p2, k1, 1/1 RPC; work from *, 1/1 LPC, k1, p2, k2.

Round 3: k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1, *p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1; work from *, p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2.

Round 4: k2, p2, k2, p1, *p1, (k2, p2) × 2, k2, p1; work from *, p1, k2, p2, k2.

Round 5: k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1, *p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1; work from *, p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2.

Round 6: k2, p2, k2, p1, *p1, (k2, p2) × 2, k2, p1; work from *, p1, k2, p2, k2.

Round 7: 1/1 RC, p2, k1‑tbl, 1/1 LPC, *1/1 RPC, k1‑tbl, p2, 1/1 RC, p2, k1‑tbl, 1/1 LPC; work from *, 1/1 RPC, k1‑tbl, p2, 1/1 RC.

Round 8: k2, p2, k1, p1, k1, *k1, p1, k1, p2, k2, p2, k1, p1, k1; work from *, k1, p1, k1, p2, k2.

Round 9: k2, p2, k1‑tbl, p1, 1/1 LC, *p1, k1‑tbl, p2, k2, p2, k1‑tbl, p1, 1/1 LC; work from *, p1, k1‑tbl, p2, k2.

Round 10: k2, p2, k1, 1/1 RPC, *1/1 LPC, k1, p2, k2, p2, k1, 1/1 RPC; work from *, 1/1 LPC, k1, p2, k2.

Round 11: k1‑tbl, 1/1 LPC, p1, 1/1 RC, p1, *p1, 1/1 RC, p1, 1/1 RPC, 1/1 LPC, p1, 1/1 RC, p1; work from *, p1, 1/1 RC, p1, 1/1 RPC, k1‑tbl.

Round 12: (k1, p1) × 2, k2, p1, *p1, k2, p1, k1, p2, k1, p1, k2, p1; work from *, p1, k2, (p1, k1) × 2.

Round 13: (k1‑tbl, p1) × 2, 1/1 RC, p1, *p1, 1/1 RC, p1, k1‑tbl, p2, k1‑tbl, p1, 1/1 RC, p1; work from *, p1, 1/1 RC, (p1, k1‑tbl) × 2.

Round 14: k1, p1, k1, 1/1 RPC, k1, p1, *p1, k1, 1/1 LPC, k1, p2, k1, 1/1 RPC, k1, p1; work from *, p1, k1, 1/1 LPC, k1, p1, k1.

Round 15: k1‑tbl, p1, 1/1 LC, p1, 1/1 LPC, *1/1 RPC, p1, 1/1 LC, p2, 1/1 LC, p1, 1/1 LPC; work from *, 1/1 RPC, p1, 1/1 LC, p1, k1‑tbl.

Round 16: k1, p1, k2, p2, k1, *k1, (p2, k2) × 2, p2, k1; work from *, k1, p2, k2, p1, k1.

Round 17: k1‑tbl, 1/1 RPC, 1/1 LPC, p1, 1/1 LC, *p1, (1/1 RPC, 1/1 LPC) × 2, p1, 1/1 LC; work from *, p1, 1/1 RPC, 1/1 LPC, k1‑tbl.

Round 18: k2, p2, k1, p1, k1, *k1, p1, k1, p2, k2, p2, k1, p1, k1; work from *, k1, p1, k1, p2, k2.

Round 19: 1/1 RC, p2, k1‑tbl, 1/1 RPC, *1/1 LPC, k1‑tbl, p2, 1/1 RC, p2, k1‑tbl, 1/1 RPC; work from *, 1/1 LPC, k1‑tbl, p2, 1/1 RC.

Round 20: k2, p2, k2, p1, *p1, (k2, p2) × 2, k2, p1; work from *, p1, k2, p2, k2.

Round 21: k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1, *p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1; work from *, p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2.

Round 22: k2, p2, k2, p1, *p1, (k2, p2) × 2, k2, p1; work from *, p1, k2, p2, k2.

Round 23: k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1, *p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1; work from *, p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2.

Round 24: k2, p2, k1, 1/1 LPC, *1/1 RPC, k1, p2, k2, p2, k1, 1/1 LPC; work from *, 1/1 RPC, k1, p2, k2.

Round 25: k2, p2, k1‑tbl, p1, 1/1 LC, *p1, k1‑tbl, p2, k2, p2, k1‑tbl, p1, 1/1 LC; work from *, p1, k1‑tbl, p2, k2.

Round 26: k2, p2, k1, 1/1 RPC, *1/1 LPC, k1, p2, k2, p2, k1, 1/1 RPC; work from *, 1/1 LPC, k1, p2, k2.

Round 27: k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1, *p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1; work from *, p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2.

Round 28: k2, p2, k2, p1, *p1, (k2, p2) × 2, k2, p1; work from *, p1, k2, p2, k2.

Round 29: k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1, *p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2, p2, 1/1 RC, p1; work from *, p1, 1/1 RC, p2, k2.

Round 30: k2, p2, k1, 1/1 LPC, *1/1 RPC, k1, p2, k2, p2, k1, 1/1 LPC; work from *, 1/1 RPC, k1, p2, k2.