This may sound crazy,

but I like cabling with a cable needle. I know, I'm a traitor to the ease of cabling without a needle, and honestly, I haven't tried it (so, maybe I shouldn't be so quick to exclude it, right?), but cabling with a needle is gratifying. I like managing the little needle with all the other needles.

I recently had a strong urge to cable, as most of my recent projects have been cable-less. To the rescue, I found Ganiggle's Celtic Memories bag pattern. I started it a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't gotten very far, mainly because I'm taking it slow to ensure I don't mess up the gorgeous cables. The purse is knit flat on small needles, so the fabric is really dense and the cables really stand out. I'm using a gorgeous heathery Wool of the Andes shade called Tidepool Heather.

I was going to give this away as a Christmas gift, but now, I'm pretty sure it will be in constant use by me. I may make another in a different shade for a gift, though.

I've never done interlocking cables like the center panel (the side panels are lace), but it looks so fancy.