To work cables or twisted stitches without a cable needle, you first rearrange the stitches into the order that they should appear after the cable or twisted stitch has been worked and then knit or purl across them as described in the pattern. When rearranging the stitches, make sure to tightly grip the base of any “free” stitches that are not currently on a needle to prevent them from dropping or unravelling.
The video shows a c4b cable which is usually described as “Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and place at back of work, k2, then k2 from cable needle” but the technique can be used for most cables and twisted stitches.
Patterns that use this technique: