Random Cabled Scarf

I read a pattern somewhere that called for using dice as random number generators. I forget now what exactly it was, or where I read it, but I think the purpose was to determine how wide colored stripes would be?

Anyway, I wanted to knit myself an off-white scarf to go with my brown leather coat, and decided to use up some random Red Heart yarn I had (the scarf is more decoration than to actually use). I cast on and started knitting some 2 x 2 ribbing, but that quickly got boring, so I decided to cable them. I did a cable of the middle two ribs, but that was too symmetrical and also boring. I recalled the random knitting thing with dice, and improvised with slips of paper in bowls.

Cast on 26
(First row)*k2, p2, rep from * until 2 stitches rem, k2
(Even rows) sl 1, p1, *k2, p2, rep from *
(Odd rows) sl 1, k1, p2, *k2, p2, rep from * until 2 stitches rem, k2

Repeat even and odd rows 4 times or so, until plain ribbing at end of scarf is satisfactory. Now begins the fun part!

Make slips of paper--first to determine whether to cable, second to determine where, and third to determine whether the cable will cross in front or back of the other.

For my scarf, I started with 8 total slips in the first bowl--seven blank (no cable this row) and one that said "Yes." I soon realized this wasn't making nearly enough cables to make me happy, and removed four blank slips, leaving three blank slips and one to tell me to cable. While the truly random thing to do would be to replace each slip after drawing it, I wanted to ensure there would be a cable sometime in the next four rows, and would therefore keep the blank ones out of the bowl until I drew the "Yes," at which point all would be replaced into the bowl.

When you draw a yes, you still need to determine which cable will cross. Make slips numbered 1 through 5, and place them in another bowl. Finally, make two slips, one for "Over" and one for "Under" (or any even number of slips with equal numbers of Over and Under).

From this point, every time you begin an odd-numbered row (the right side), draw a slip from the first bowl. If it is blank, knit the ribbing as above. If it says "Yes," draw from the next two bowls to determine which cable to cross, and how. For example, if you draw a Yes, then 5, then Over, knit and purl as normal up to the beginning of the 5th rib (not counting the two one the very ends, so it should be the second from last). Slip 4 stitches to the cable needle, hold in front (so the cable will cross over the other, as determined by the third slip of paper), knit 2 from the left needle, slip the 2 purl stitches from the cable needle back to the left needle and purl them, then knit the last 2 stitches off the cable needle. Finish the row as normal, knit the even row (wrong side), and then it's time to draw another slip of paper.

Continue until the scarf is a couple of inches short of the final length you'd like, complete a few repeats of the odd and even rows above (plain ribbing), then bind off in pattern.

The most important rule is NO CHEATING! Sometimes you'll have a lot of cables clustered together, and it might even begin to look like a braid while other ribs continue on straight as an arrow for seemingly forever. But that's what random is--if you wanted them evenly distributed, you'd pick a pattern and go with it. Random is half the fun!

I do have to admit that when I drew the same cable on the very next odd row, I'd draw for another number because that would be a tight crossover, especially because you're crossing over two purl stitches. You can prevent that by only drawing slips of paper every other odd row (every fourth row total), but that would get confusing, and I didn't mind cabling twice in a row as long as it didn't involve the same rib. I only had to "cheat" this way a couple of times in the entire scarf.

Enjoy!