In two of my patterns - Quiet Barents Sea Stole and Quiet Barents Sea cowl - I advise swatching for two-colored cabling before starting the project itself. The aim of this particular swatch is not to determine knitting gauge (as it would usually be) but to give you feel and practice about what happens when you make cable in two colors.

Note: the final gauge is not important for the stole but is important for the fit of the cowl.

The swatch for Quiet Barents sea patterns

Abbreviations:
2/1 LPC - 2x1 left-leaning purl cable
2/1 LC - 2x1 left-leaning cable
2/1 RC - 2x1 right-leaning cable
CC - contract color
k tbl - knit through the back loop
MC - main color
p tbl - purl through the back loop
RS - right side
st(s) - stitch(es)
WS - wrong side

I’m adding a reduced chart made specifically for a two-colored cable swatch for quicker knit and more cable practice.

Beginning of work:

Using contrast color yarn and long-tail cast-on, cast on 10 sts.

Take the needles into the left hand and insert the additional needle between the first and second sts:

Leaving a long tail for casting additional sts, pull a new st using main color yarn towards yourself:

Twist the new st a bit clockwise and place it on the needles with another cast on stitches.

First main color stitch

Take the needles back into the right hand and cast on another 5 sts in the main color.

Cast on stitches

Work setup row (in the chart it is Row 0, WS), purling all sts in the color you see them. Please do not forget to twist the yarn threads as in colorwork.

Our swatch after Setup row

Row 1 from Chart A (RS):
Work in contrast color from Chart until 3 sts left in contrast color:

To work 2/1 RC cable, twist the next 3 sts in such a way that the first st is in the back and the next 2 sts are in the front. Knit the first 2 sts in contrast color, twist both yarns together and knit the last st in the main color.

Continue working in the main color from the chart to the end of the row.

Row 2 from the chart (WS):
Work in the main color until there are no main color stitches left. To work 2/1 RC cable from WS, twist the next 3 sts in such a way that the first 2 sts are in the back and the third st in the front. Knit the first st in the main color, twist the yarn threads together and purl the next 2 sts in contrast color.

Continue working in contrast color from the chart to the end of the row.

Continue to work RS rows as Row 1 (RS) and WS rows as Row 2 (WS) until Row 7 in Chart A where cable leaning direction will start to change.

Note: The chart for this swatch is a reduced original chart. It is smaller in both - stitches and rows as the original chart. In the original chart, the direction will start to change in Row 15.

Row 7 from the chart (RS):
Work Row 7 from the chart, twisting both yarn strands in color-changing place.

After Row 7.

Row 8 from the chart (WS):
Work in the main color until there is 1 st left in the main color.

To work 2/1 LPC cable, twist the next 3 sts in such a way that the first st would be in front and the next 2 sts in the back. Twist both yarn threads and purl the next 2 sts in contrast color, knit the third st in contrast color.

After working the cable in Row 8.

Continue working in contrast color from the chart to the end of the row.

Row 9 from the chart (RS):
Work in contrast color from the chart until there are 2 sts left in contrast color.

To work 2/1 LC cable, twist the next 3 sts in such a way that the first 2 sts are in front and the next st (in the main color) is in the back. Knit all 3 sts in contrast color.

After working cable in Row 9.

Continue to work RS rows as Row 9 (RS) and WS rows as Row 8 (WS) until the end of the chart. Repeat Rows 1-14 if needed one or several times.

Our mini swatch is done!

You can find more detailed photo instructions about two-colored cabling in other blog posts:

• Color intarsia worked in round
• Joining the layers for Quiet Barents Sea cowl

Happy knitting!