The baby cable isn’t a true cable, but more of a twisted stitch pattern. Because you aren’t knitting stitches out of order (as you are with true cables), this scarf knits up pretty quickly.

As with many scarves, gauge isn’t crucial here. If you substitute yarn, be sure to read the label to find the gauge
of your yarn and use an appropriate needle size. I like this
scarf knit a little more loosely, so I usually go up a needle
size, which gives the cables a little more room, and therefore
the scarf a little more drape.

The Wooly Stripes was knit with a US 9, and the Granito was knit with a US11.

My dear friend, estav, pointed out an error which I will correct below. Hope this hasn’t held anybody up! Many thanks, Edie!

This pattern should read as a multiple of 4 + 2. The border is 6 sts (k3 at beg and end of each row) which are added after you decide how many multiples to knit. For the purposes of this pattern, CO 28.

Row 1: K3, pm, (k2, p2) 5x, end k2, pm, k3.

Row 2: K3, sl m, (p2,k2) 5x, end p2, sl m, k3.

Row 3: K3, sl m, (BC,p2) 5x, end BC, sl m, k3.

Row 4: K3, sl m, (p2, BC) 5x, end p2, sl m, k3.

Rep rows 1-4 for scarf till desired length.

The photo showing a brown colorway is a variation of the pattern. I made this for a male relative and broke up the baby cables every 4th twist by knitting 6 rows of garter stitch. Yarn is Plymouth Yarn Boku, 3 skeins.