Organic Cabling

Written By Clodagh Nathan

Organically-cabled wedding blanket.

Elongated Cable wells.

Organic cabling is a knitting technique I developed during 2025. It uses classic Aran knit stitches in a contemporary, flowing way.

It starts out with a collection of classic Aran cables and a rough guide of the overall composition. Every cable is crossed at the choice of the knitter during the making. The result is a knitted piece that’s wholly unique! The type of cables used for a piece depends on the project’s concept. In my design process, I like to use certain stitches that are directly inspired by imagery relating to the project’s narrative and photographic inspiration.

Aran Knit Cables extracted from imagery of a fire’s flame.

Aran knitting can be quite rigid and structured so it’s lovely to bring a bit more flow and spontaneity into such traditional craft techniques. The result of organic cabling draws the eye into the textile in 3 different ways:

  • Small cable details

  • Overall spots of texture in the piece

  • Directed gaze following cables across the textile

This method of knitting ties the maker in with the cloth on a more intimate level, as they actively make executive decisions during its creation. It’s well suited for commission-based work. The piece between patron and artist can be more collaborative, as the former can choose the desired overall composition, while the latter has freedom to create the textile’s details.

Clodagh Nathan