Peter's Scarf

Ah, the quest for the perfect knitted Giftmas present. For my younger brother it was a scarf, a cabled scarf to be precise. I wanted a simple, yet distinctive cable pattern - not too busy. Almost all the patterns I found were far too wide for what I had in mind, so I came up with this simple, easy to memorize, relatively narrow cabled scarf, suitable for a man or a woman. A braid with the appearance of four strands runs down the center and a simple mirror-image twist borders the braid with a no fuss seed stitch edge on the sides and top and bottom.

Peter's Scarf:


You will need an Aran weight yarn, although of course any weight will do as you will just need to adjust your needle size. I used Summer Tweed by Rowan which is a lovely silk/cotton blend, as my brother cannot wear wool. As with all cabled items, lighter colored yarns will allow the cables to be more distinctive. You will use approximately 26 yards of yarn for every 5 inches of scarf before blocking, so plan accordingly (3 skeins of Summer Tweed made a 68 inch scarf, before blocking). Keep in mind that the scarf length and width after blocking will vary greatly depending on the type of yarn you are using, so if you want a particular length, be sure to swatch.

You will also need US 7, 4.5 mm, needles.

Abbreviations:
C4F (Cable 4 Front) – Slip next 2 sts onto CN and hold in Front, K2 from the left needle, K2 from the CN.
C4B (Cable 4 Back) – Slip next 2 sts onto CN and hold in Back, K2 from the left needle, K2 from the CN.

Cast on 28 stitches

Seed stitch end:
Wrong side: *P1, K1, repeat to end
Right side: *K1, P1, repeat to end
Repeat the previous two rows one more time
(P1, K1) 2 times, *P1, Kfb, (P1, K1) 2 times, * repeat to end of row (32 sts)

Pattern:
Row 1(RS): K1, P2, K4, P3, C4F, K4, C4B, P3, K4, P1, K1, P1
Row 2: P1, K2, P4, K3, P12, K3, P4, K1, P1, K1
Row 3: K1, P2, C4B, P3, K2, C4F, C4B, K2, P3, C4F, P1, K1, P1
Row 4: Same as Row 2
Row 5: K1, P2, K4, P3, K4, C4F, K4, P3, K4, P1, K1, P1
Row 6: Same as Row 2


For a larger version of the chart, go here.

Repeat the pattern until the scarf is the desired length, or until you have 5-6 yards remaining.

Seed stitch end:
(K1, P1) 2 times, *Ktog, P1, (K1, P1) 2 times, * repeat to end of row (28 sts)
*P1, K1, *repeat to end
*K1, P1, *repeat to end
Repeat the previous two rows one more time
Cast off

Ravelry pattern page here: Peter's Scarf