Soumak Weave Scarf
Like all fiber arts, weaving is a dive into antiquity, but our Soumak Weave Scarf pinpoints your time travel to Anatolia circa the 7th century BC, the birthplace of the soumak technique. Used then (and now!) to create things like sturdy rugs and saddlebags, here we use it to form rows of raised twisted stitches that flow across the width of this beautiful and timeless scarf!
You’ll breeze through the plain weave sections on our favorite table-size Cricket Loom from Schacht Spindle Co. And for the single soumak rows, you’ll use a tapestry needle (called a sou in ancient Persian) to make little half hitches across the row, moving forward four warp threads and back two. But don’t worry, we explain it all in the pattern below!
For the main yarn of our Soumak Weave Scarf, we chose our Understory, a super soft and squishy mixture of baby alpaca, baby yak, and silk. And for the rows of soumak weave, we used Mulberry Merino, whose shiny silk component makes a very nice contrast to Understory’s earthiness.
All you need in order to weave your own Soumak Weave Scarf: three skeins of Understory and one of Mulberry Merino. We’ve selected three soft, neutral palettes for inspiration, so prepare to hit warp speed for your travel back in time!
Designed for Purl Soho by Carrie Laing.
MATERIALS
To weave one Soumak Scarf, you will need…
- Warp Yarn + Weft Yarn A: 3 skeins of Purl Soho’s Understory, 50% baby alpaca, 25% baby yak, and 25% silk.
- Weft Yarn B: 1 skein of Purl Soho’s Mulberry Merino, 80% extra fine merino wool and 20% mulberry silk.
For inspiration, we’ve created three color palettes…
SILVER BERRY (Shown above, we used this palette for our sample): Understory in Silver Berry + Mulberry Merino in Peach Stone
WILLOW BARK (left): Understory in Willow Bark + Mulberry Merino in Field Mouse
PINK EARTH (right): Understory in Pink Earth + Mulberry Merino in Baby Fawn
You’ll also need…..
- Schacht Spindle Company’s 15-inch Cricket Loom (and the 8-dent, 15-inch Reed that comes with it)
- 1 tapestry needle
STRUCTURE
Plain Weave + Soumak Weave
WARP
Warp Length: 96 inches (includes 26 inches of loom waste)
Warp Ends: 114
Width in Reed: 14 inches
Ends Per Inch (E.P.I): 8
Picks Per Inch (P.P.I): 10
SIZE
Finished Dimensions, Unblocked: 12 1/2 inches x 74 1/2 inches long with a 1/2 inch fringe
Finished Dimensions, Blocked: 12 1/4 inches x 74 inches long with a 1/2 inch of fringe
NOTES
Using The Cricket Loom
Cricket Looms come with a very user-friendly instructional booklet that walks you through every step of the weaving process, from assembling the loom to tying the fringe. For even more guidance, check out our Cricket Loom Tips.
Working Soumak Weave
To begin, place the heddle in neutral position and thread a tapestry needle with approximately 30 inches of Weft Yarn B.
Set Up
Starting from the right and moving left, pass the threaded needle over the first 2 warp threads.
Then moving right, bring the needle back under the first 2 warp threads.
Pull the yarn through, leaving a 3-inch tail lying on top of the first 2 warp threads.
Continue
Moving left, pass the threaded needle over the next 4 warp threads…
… then moving right, back under the previous 2 warp threads, coming out above the warp and creating a loop.
Pass the needle through the loop and pull tight.
Repeat by passing the threaded needle over the next 4 warp threads to the left, then back under the previous 2 warp threads to the right, pulling the needle out above the warp threads and through the loop.
Continue in this pattern across the width of your warp.
PATTERN
Warp The Loom
Set up the warping peg 96 inches from the back of the loom. Note that, at this point, the back of the loom is clamped to the far edge of the table and so is the side farther away from the warping peg.
Tie one skein of the Warp Yarn to the back apron bar.
With a 8-dent reed in place, begin threading the heddle by pulling the first loop of yarn through the second slat from the right end of the reed.
Working from right to left, thread the next 56 slats, so there are 57 slats threaded in total.
Tie the yarn to the back apron bar.
Wind on the warp using paper to separate the layers.
Working from right to left, thread the yarn through each of the holes on the heddle.
You should have a total of 114 warp threads.
Tie the warp threads on to the front apron bar in groups of 6.
Weave
Wind a shuttle with Weft Yarn A.
With scrap yarn, or using the Weft Yarn doubled, weave a couple of inches until the warp threads are evenly spread out.
NOTE: When you pass the shuttle through the shed for the first row, leave a 36-inch tail, which you will use at the end for finishing.
**With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 16 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving (see Notes, above).
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 20 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 4 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 4 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 10 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 26 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 4 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 7 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 14 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 3 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 3 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 3 rows.
With Weft Yarn B, weave a row of soumak weaving.
Repeat from ** 6 more times.
With Weft Yarn A, weave in plain weave for 16 rows.
Leave a 36-inch tail of weft yarn for finishing.
FINISH
For a complete how-to on this step, visit our Finishing with Hemstitch Tutorial.
Use the 36-inch tails to finish each end of the scarf with a hemstitch.
Make the hemstitch around groups of 6 warp ends across the width of the scarf.
Cut the fringe 1/2 inch from the end of the weaving and weave in the hemstitch tails.
Weave in the tails of each soumak row directly under the row, on the side of the scarf that wasn’t facing you as you were weaving. This will create a nice, neat row and make the tails practically invisible!
Gently hand wash your finished scarf in cold water, laying it flat to dry.
Wow. Pretty. But looks like it would take forever. Is it tedious to do in the loom?
Hello Veronica,
Thank you for reaching out and for your kind words! This beautiful scarf will only be tedious if you find weaving to be tedious. I wouldn’t say that it is going to take you longer to weave than any other woven scarf. If you are used to knitting, it will be much faster than knitting a scarf!
I hope this helps and happy weaving,
Marilla
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Hello Sandy,
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I hope this helps!
-Marilla
Lovely pattern w/ even lovelier yarn/color choices as always. Question about the soumak rows–do the ends need to be woven in on each row or does the stitch secure the yarn enough that the tails can be snipped flush?
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for reaching out! You will need to weave in the end of the Soumak rows. Our weaver, wove them in after she finished the scarf and had it off of the loom but you can also do it as you go! The ends can essentially be woven in underneath the soumak row on the back side, so that they don’t really show at all.
Best,
Cassy
Thank you Lisa,
That was my question too. I love the look of this scarf but I hate to weave in.
Beautiful piece. I just started it and am wondering if it should really only take 30 inches of weft yarn B for the spinal weave? It’s taking me closer to 60.
Hi Phillyp,
Thanks for writing in! It’s hard to say what might be going awry without seeing your work, but our weaver did confirm she was able to work the spiral weave with 30 inches of Yarn B, as that is more than twice the width of the scarf. If you would like, you can send us a picture of your scarf at [email protected] so we can try to troubleshoot this for you, but either way, you have more than enough Mulberry Merino in the bundle so you can cut the lengths however long you need without worrying about running out of yarn!
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Such a beautiful scarf! I just wanted to let the other commenters know, have made entire tapestries in soumack, don’t be afraid of it, it goes very quickly.
I would like to make the scarf in silverberry but you no longer carry the peach stone mulberry merino. Because computer monitors do not show color well, what color do you recommend as a substitute for peach stone in mulberry merino? Thank you.
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for reaching out! I would recommend substituting Season Alpaca in Mountain Rose! It is the same weight as Mulberry Merino so it should work perfectly, and the color will coordinate beautifully with Understory in Silver Berry.
Best,
Julianna
Hello, I would love to make this beautiful scarf and am wondering if I can warp and do the plain weave with a Season Alpaca I have and then do the soumack in the merino? Would these two yarns work together? Thank you.
Hi Katherine,
Thanks for writing in! Season Alpaca is a bit thinner than Understory, so you can use it, but the fabric will be somewhat looser or gauzier than ours. I would recommend weaving a swatch before you get started to make sure you will be happy with it!
Best,
Julianna
Good morning! So I’m finally ready to try to weave my first “investment” piece on my Cricket loom. I have 3 skeins of Understory in Silver Berry and am planning to try this project. The Mulberry Merino color (Peach Stone) you recommended to be paired with Silver Berry is no longer available. Do you have another color recommendation? Thanks so much!!!
Hi Megan,
Thanks for reaching out! Although the soumak rows will stand out a little more than they did in our scarf, I think Mulberry Merino in either Baby Fawn or Red Plum would be lovely with Silver Berry. Best of luck with your new project!
Warmly,
Julianna
Would Flax Down work for the warp for this scarf and a Mulberry merino for the twist rows?
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for reaching out! Flax Down and Mulberry Merino would be a great combination for this scarf! Please let us know how this combination works out!
Warmly,
Gianna