Horseshoe Cable
a bold cable panel of paired crossings that mirror into a repeating horseshoe or U shape
The horseshoe cable is two cable crossings worked side by side in opposite directions so they curve toward each other into a U, or horseshoe, shape. Over a panel of knit stitches on a purl ground, you cross the left half of the panel one way and the right half the other on the same cable row, using a cable needle to hold stitches to the front for one crossing and to the back for the mirrored one. Repeating that crossing every few rows stacks the horseshoes into a continuous column. It is a step up from a single rope cable because the two mirrored crossings must be worked correctly on the same row, but it reads as a rich, classic Aran motif and is a common building block in fisherman sweaters. Keep the purl stitches on either side firm so the cable stands forward, and mark the cable rows, since a missed crossing is hard to correct later. Cables pull the fabric in widthwise, so allow for that in gauge.