How to Work a 2 x 2 Cable in Turned Rows

In this video, I'm gonna be showing you how to make a two by two cable worked in turned rows. So we are gonna be working up the swatch that looks just like this one. And first I wanna point out I've made a chart, and you can download your chart if you wanna follow along. If you take a look at this chart, all of these different symbols here, if you're not familiar with chart reading, that's okay. I'm gonna tell you what all the symbols are. All the little symbols here, they represent a stitch. So for example, right here, this little oval, this stands for a chain stitch. The plus sign, if it's black, it stands for a single crochet as you're working the right side of your work. And if the plus sign is blue, that means it stands for a single crochet as you're working on the wrong side of your work. That just means if it's turned the other way. This symbol here that looks like a T with a little swoop at the end, that is a front post double crochet. This symbol that's a faded gray sign and it has two little hashes, that is a front post treble crochet worked behind the other stitches. So it's supposed to show that those stitches are behind the stitches that cross over it in this direction. So these stitches are the front post treble crochets that are worked in front of those other treble crochets. So when you read the chart, you'll start here, working your chains and then you'll work the next row, which are these plus symbols working in this direction, a chain and plus symbols working in this direction. And then on row three, that's when we start all these post stitches here. Okay, so I've already chained 22 stitches, which if you're making a sample that looks exactly like this, that's what you're gonna wanna chain is 22, and that includes the turning chain here. I do wanna point out, too, one more thing. This might look a little odd that there is one column of single crochet stitches on this side and two columns on this side. That is because when you work these post stitches, they take up a little bit more room and push to the left. So I was finding that when I only had one column of single crochets on this side and one column of single crochets on this side, it looked like my stitches were moved over just a little bit, like this side was narrower. So when you look at this, it does look like this side is a tiny bit narrower than this side because I added that extra column. So that is completely up to you. If you wanna make this so that you have one stitch on this side and one stitch on this side, then you will just omit one column of stitches here and you'd only chain 21 stitches. So I hope that that clears that up if you're wondering why there's two columns here instead of just one. All right, so we've worked our 22 stitches or 22 chains. Then we're gonna skip that first chain, and I am working in the bottom bump. So I'm skipping this chain and working underneath this bottom bump here. that's opposite of where we normally work under. When you flip it this direction, you see that V? That is normally where we work underneath our stitch, but I really like to start my stitches or start my swatches by working into the bottom bump, which is right there. So I'm gonna be working a row of single crochet stitches across. So skipping that first stitch because that just is a turning chain and it doesn't count as a stitch in this particular pattern. So you insert, yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through two. That's our first single crochet. Insert, yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through two. And we're gonna continue making single crochet stitches all the way across. So we have worked one row of single crochet stitches all the way across. You should have 21 stitches there. And then we are going to chain one for a turning chain. This doesn't count as a stitch, so we are not gonna work into that chain. We'll turn our work to work in the opposite direction. And then we're gonna work another row of single crochet stitches into each stitch across, okay? So insert, yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through two. We're gonna work that all the way across. This is counting as the wrong side of our piece. It'll be more obvious later when we start doing our post stitches because the post stitches will all go on the front of our piece or the right side of our piece. So right now these stitches are represented by the blue plus signs in the chart. Okay, we've reached the last single crochet. We're gonna yarn over and turn our work. Now again, we are gonna be working on the right side, on a right side row, so that's in black. We're on row three, which is right here in our chart. So we are going to do one single crochet, and then the next four stitches, we're gonna do a front post double crochet into the very first row of single crochets that we made. So here is our first single crochet stitch. That is in the working row, just like normal. Then to do a front post double crochet down below, we will yarn over, and then we are going to work our stitch around the post of our single crochet stitch from below. So if we take a look, right here, this is our very first single crochet that we did in row one. Here is the second single crochet. So this is going to be worked around the post of that stitch. So that means we will insert our hook right before the stitch, and it'll go around the back of the stitch and exit onto the left, okay? So we are going to yarn over, insert, go around the back of that stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two. So we just made a post stitch. That means it's going around the post of a stitch, and it makes a raised line. So here we had our first single crochet up in the working row, and then we reached down here to that very first row we did and worked a post stitch around that stitch. We are going to work around the next three stitches. We're gonna make post stitches, one, two, three around these three stitches next. So I should mention, too, if you're a left-handed crocheter, you should be watching this video in reverse. So watch it in a mirror or flip your screen in order to watch me basically do a mirror image of what I'm doing 'cause then it will look exactly as how you would crochet it. So we've worked our four post stitches. Now we, because we worked around those posts, we are skipping the stitches that are directly behind those stitches. So here's a stitch that we're skipping, one, two, three, four. We're not gonna work into any of those stitches. And we are gonna work a single crochet stitch into the following stitch, which is right here. So we're inserting our hook, pulling up a loop, yarn over and pull through two. So that was this single crochet stitch right here. So we've worked across to here, and now we're gonna do one post stitch down below. So you'll notice these post stitches were worked straight in a line, and then there's one single crochet that's not worked into, well, not on this round anyway, or on this row anyway. But we are gonna work a post stitch around the following stitch. So we're gonna yarn over. We're skipping this single crochet stitch down here from where our post stitches are. So there's our last post stitch, there's a single crochet, and we're gonna work around the next single crochet. Pull through two, pull through two. And then we're gonna skip the stitch behind that, which is right here, and make a single crochet into the following stitch. So now we have four of these post stitches. We have a single crochet, we have another post stitch and then we have another single crochet right there. So then we're gonna do four more post stitches, single crochet in the working row, a post stitch down below, single crochet in the working row, okay? So we're just basically repeating what we already did. So we're skipping that single crochet, and we're working four more front post double crochets, one, two, three, and four. And remember to skip all four of those stitches, one, two, three, four. And then we're gonna work a single crochet into the following stitch in the working row up there at the top. Then we are going to make a post stitch down below. So we'll skip that single crochet, make a post stitch around the following single crochet. Remember to skip the stitch behind it. And then make another single crochet here. And then we're gonna work four more post stitches. Those would be the last four in the row, these four post stitches. So we're working down in that first row of single crochets that we made in row one. One, two, three, four. And then we're gonna skip one, two, three, four corresponding stitches behind. And then we're gonna work a single crochet right here and another single crochet. This completes our row. That completes row three. Those are the two last single crochets we made. And then we are going to turn our work, chain one, turn our work and work single crochet stitches all the way across. So chain one, turn your work and work single crochet stitches all the way across. Now, you might be confused because there's some V stitches here and there's some V stitches here. The ones that are on top closest to the top edge, those are the ones you're gonna be working into. Ignore the ones that are down here below. So we're just working one single crochet into each stitch across. And we've worked one single crochet all the way across. That was on row four, on the wrong side row. So we are going to chain one and turn. And now we are looking at the beginning of row five, which is in black here. And this is where we start to cross over our stitches to make those cables look like they're twisting. So the very first stitch that we do is just a single crochet into the working row, so just a regular single crochet. Then we are going to do two front post treble crochets over here into these two post stitches. So we're skipping two post stitches and working post stitches around the next two stitches. So that looks like this. We'll do our single crochet stitch in the working row, and then we're gonna yarn over twice 'cause it's a front post treble crochet, which is a little taller than the double crochet. We're skipping the first two posts. Those are between my thumbs here. We're skipping those two, and then we're gonna work into this one and then this one. So you work around your post. You go from the right side around the back to the left, or if you're left-handed you're gonna go from the left around the back to the right. Yarn over, pull up loop, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two. That is a front post treble crochet. And you can see it's reaching down to the left like that. You'll yarn over twice. Insert again from right around the back and out the left. Or if you're left-handed, you'll insert from left around the back and to the right. Yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over pull through two, yarn over, pull through two. Now we are going to go back, and we are going to work front post treble crochets around the two post stitches that we skipped. So we'll be inserting our hook here for the first stitch and here for the second stitch. So we'll yarn over twice. We're going to that first stitch that we skipped, first post that we skipped, yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two. And we're gonna do that again into the next post stitch. Yarn over twice. We're gonna go from the right around the back to the left, pull up loop, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two. Then we are going to skip the corresponding four stitches, one, two, three, four, behind those crisscrossing stitches we just made. Then we're gonna make a single crochet stitch into the next stitch. And you can see we're right here. We're gonna make a post into a post. So this entire column right here, it's always just working into the post below when you're on the right side of your work. So we'll yarn over and work a front post double crochet. Yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through two, yarn over, pull through two, and then a single crochet into the next stitch. So remember to skip the corresponding stitch behind. And then we're gonna work a single crochet into the next stitch of the working row. Now, we're gonna repeat that, so we're gonna be working front post treble crochets. So we are over twice, skip two posts. We're gonna work into these two posts. There's the first one. There's the second one. And then we're going to work into the two posts we skipped, starting with the first skipped stitch and moving to the second skipped stitch. Then you skip the four corresponding stitches behind, one, two, three, four, work a single crochet. Then we're gonna work a post stitch in the post stitch below. So this is the front post double crochet. So if you remember, as you're working in this cable pattern, if you remember whenever you are crossing your stitches, whenever they cross each other, you're doing a front post treble crochet. And when your post stitches are just reaching directly below, you're gonna be doing a front post double crochet. Okay, so here's our last crossing stitch, and then we're going to do these last two single crochets, one, two, and then we'll chain one and we'll work single crochet all the way across. So you can see our stitches are crossing here. It might look a little bit muddled, but as you continue working, the pattern will be more evident. So we're gonna be working single crochets in all of these stitches. Now, because those stitches are crossing over, they might get a little bunched up. But if you just kind of spread them out with your fingers, you can see which stitch is next. Just take your time. When you're first learning cables, it really helps to take your time and to count your stitches and to just make sure that you know what part of the stitch you're working into. Okay, so we have worked single crochet all the way across. Now we are working on row seven, it's right here. And in this row we're just gonna be doing single crochets into the working rows. And then we're gonna be doing those front post double crochets into the stitches directly below. So here's the first single crochet, and now when we get to our cable, we're just gonna be working front post double crochets into the post stitches below. So you're not working into these stitches up here. You have to find those post stitches. And you may need to kind of move it around with your fingers a little bit to distinguish exactly where your stitches are. So front post double crochet into the next four posts. And then we do a single crochet. Just make sure you're skipping the corresponding four stitches behind your post stitches. Single crochet in the working row. Front post double crochet directly below. Single crochet in the working row. Now we're repeating what we just did, front post double crochet in the next four stitches. Skip the four corresponding stitches behind and work a single crochet in the working row. And reach down and do a front post double crochet in the next stitch. Skip the corresponding stitch behind, single crochet. And here we are on our last cable. And we're gonna finish up with two single crochets in our working row. So now you can see we have just made these post stitches that go directly down. So here's our cable crossing from the previous right side row down here. And now we are working those post stitches that lead straight up upward. So we will chain one and turn and single crochet across. Okay, we've reached the end of our row. We just worked row eight on the wrong side row. We chained one, we're gonna turn our work, and now we're working row one, I mean row nine, right across here. This is a repeat of row seven, okay, except it's even a little easier because it's easier to see where your post stitches go. So we do a single crochet in the first stitch and then four front post double crochets, one, two, three, four. Skip the four corresponding stitches. Make a single crochet. Make a front post double crochet. Skip the corresponding stitch behind and make a single crochet in the working row. And again, repeat that, working your front post double crochets in the next four stitches, one, two, three, four. And then we'll skip those four stitches, one, two, three, four. Work a single crochet into your working row. Now we're gonna do a double crochet into this column here, front post double crochet. Skip the stitch behind. Single crochet in the working row, and four post stitches, Four front post double crochets, one, two, three and four, ending with two single crochets at the end of your row. So that was row nine. And as you can see from the chart, this is a six-row repeat. So after you would work row nine, you would go back and start working. You'd do a wrong side row of single crochets and then you would do your cable crossing row, and you would just continue. So you'd work rows four through nine and then four through nine and four through nine, just to keep continuing in this stitch pattern. And one thing I do wanna add, too, about this, you can see the difference, just a little note about blocking. You can see the difference between this piece and this piece just by me wiggling it. This has been steam blocked. So if you are planning on making this into a scarf or something like that, I would highly recommend, especially if you're using an acrylic yarn like I'm using here, this is an acrylic worsted weight yarn and an I hook that I used, it may seem like it's turning out kind of stiff, but give it a little bit of steam holding your iron up above, and your piece will have a lot more drape to it. When you're making cables, your fabric is just very thick, especially in crochet, much thicker than in knitting. So I highly recommend blocking your piece when you have made something that has cables in it because then it'll just give it so much more drape. Okay, well I hope that this video has taught you all about making cables worked in the rows. There are many, many different variations of cables that you can make, but they all stem from a foundation of stitches crossing over other stitches. So this is a great example, a great place to start, and I hope you'll be making your cables with confidence.