Cable Panel Calculator

Each cable panel needs the cable stitches themselves (e.g. 6 for a C6F) plus border stitches either side (typically 2 purl stitches per side). A 6-stitch cable with borders adds 10 stitches per panel. Two cable panels would add 20 extra stitches to your cast-on count.

Cables pull the fabric in because the crossing stitches compress horizontally. A cable panel is typically 10-20% narrower than the same number of stitches in stockinette. This means you need to add extra stitches to maintain the same finished width.

The standard rule is to cross a cable every N rows where N equals the number of stitches in the cable. A 6-stitch cable crosses every 6 rows. Some patterns modify this — crossing more frequently creates a tighter twist, less frequently gives a more relaxed rope effect.

Yes, cables use approximately 10-15% more yarn than stockinette because the crossed stitches travel diagonally rather than straight up. The wider the cable and the more frequent the crosses, the more extra yarn is needed. Factor this into your yarn estimate.