Càbaill is the Scottish Gaelic word for cables. (pronounced CAH-bil)

Cable knitting has historically been associated with the Aran Islands, off the West coast of Ireland, and the technique was adopted by many other Celtic regions, each adding their own style.
The dense cozy texture from the cables gives a woolly garment an extra layer of warmth – essential on a chilly Winter day. It is the varied and often intricately detailed patterns created by the cables that reminds me of spending childhood days exploring the hills and Munroes of Scotland’s wild countryside carefully wrapped in at least one layer of cabled wool. The cables in these two projects create texture and patterns rather than pictures. They are a great introduction to cables for newer knitters.

These patterns are the third and fourth in a collection designed for Eilidh of Stewart Yarns. The yarn is fingering weight Blue Faced Leicester wool, lovingly dyed in the three colourways of her Granda’s Collection. The many greens of “Bodach” remind me of the infinite shades found in the pine forests which cover much of the Scottish Highlands, and the grasses and bushes on the braes. All the things that remind me of Scotland.

YARN
Stewart Yarns BFL Fingering (100% Superwash Blue-faced Leicester; 400m/ 100g)
Samples were knitted in colourway “Bodach”
One (Adult 1) cowl used around 80g (320m); One pair of mittens used around 60g (240m).

NEEDLES
Cowl: US 3 (3.25 mm) and US 4 (3.5mm)
Mittens: US 1 (2.25mm) and US 1.5 (2.5mm)

GAUGE AND SIZE
Swatches were knitted in the round in stocking stitch with the larger needle needed for each project and measured over 4” (10cm)
Cowl: 25 sts and 38 rows Mittens: 29 sts and 42 rows