My first cabled scarf!

The progress of this scarf can be followed on here:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/gattobanco/beginners-super-extremely-simple-cabled-scarf


yesterday I picked up a few cable needles at michaels, they look like this

So I wanted to try cabling, I heard it's not so tough so I went on youtube which was surprisingly not helpful at all, I might make my own cabling tutorial video for people who like seeing everything really spelled out, that's how I like tutorials.

After some digging on ravelry  I found this simple pattern that I really liked, easy to follow, no weird abbreviations that aren't explained, nothing confusing. Even without a good video I was able to follow it... the only thing that confused me a little until I got started was I wasn't sure which end of the cabling needle you slip the stitches off it, like if you twist it around and use the other side or just slip them back on. The correct answer is you just slip them from the cabling needle to the needle you're knitting from in the order they were originally, no twisting or weird stuff involved. 

Here's the pattern

CO 34
1) p2,k2,p2,k8,p2,k2,p2,k8,p2,k2,p2
2) k2,p2,k2,p8,k2,p2,k2,p8,k2,p2,k2
3) repeat round 1
4) repeat round 2
5) p2,k2,p2,slip next 4 sts onto cable needle,move cable needle to back of work,k4,k4 off cable needle,p2,k2,p2,slip next 4 sts onto cable needle,move cable needle to back of work,k4,k4 off cable needle,p2,k2,p2
6) k2,p2,k2,p8,k2,p2,k2,p8,k2,p2,k2

Repeat Rows 1-6 until scarf measures desired length.
Cast off.

I'm making it with size 10 needles and a giant ball of handspun yarn I made for my boyfriend.

This ball of yarn has been the biggest pain in the ass of any yarn I've made so far, I tried making it as singles and they were just too thin but I didn't realize it until I made about 600 yards of it and set the twist in all of it, so I plyed the whole mess and reset the twist and it came out really soft and nice which is a HUGE relief.

Here's what I have so far after some messing around

This is the big pain in the ass ball of yarn I'm using, it weighs about 11.25 oz and at this point I have no idea how many yards it is.

I'm making this scarf for my fantastic boyfriend as a late Christmas present and once it's done I intend to line the reverse side with some soft warm blue fabric, which I don't have yet. Also I had no idea cabling looked weird from one side and pretty from the other... I kind of just assumed it was reversible