Knitting Tutorials from KnitPicks.com. Cables. How to Cable Without a Cable Needle. November 7th, 2011 by Jess Now that you’ve learned to use a cable needle, what do you do if you want to start a cabled project and don’t have a cable needle on hand?
Don’t fret; you can cross your stitches without using a separate needle! Here’s how to do it. Now, a few notes on this technique. Cabling without a cable needle works best on smaller cables. Knitting Techniques: Short Rows. Short rows are something that intimidated me as a beginning knitter, before I tried them. My first introduction to short rows was the Fiber Trends "Huggable Hedgehog. " I fell in love with the little guy at a fiber festival display table. I had to have it.