Now geeks can get their unsuspecting offspring to a simultaneous and early start in two obsessions: handknits and fantasy fiction. If you’re a fan of The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien, you need only check Appendix E of your copy of The Return of the King to confirm that the runes depicted in this chart correspond to the letters ‘B’, ‘A’ and ‘Y’ in the Angerthas, Tolkien’s dwarven alphabet. Stack the runes for ‘BA’ over those for ‘BY’ and run some nice cable links up both sides, and you’ll have a nice squarish panel reading ‘BABY’ that you can work into many different kinds of projects, at your choice of yarn, needles and gauge.

Note: To approximate the stated gauge and create a relatively large panel, one could use any worsted weight yarn, held double.

This chart is best attempted by knitters who are experienced cablers, but intrepid beginners should not feel discouraged. Techniques include m1 increases (both knitwise and purlwise), k2tog, ssk, p2tog, p2togtbl, and cabling (both on RS and WS). Some knitters have also found it looks neater to use twisted stitches for the vertical sections of the runes.

Aug 2015 note: a new file has been uploaded to correct errata in the written cable instructions.