Our Side-By-Side Scarf is the kind of project that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. You will be riveted by knitting something so totally beautiful! The source of inspiration here is our self-striping Novella.

Side-By-Side Scarf | Purl Soho

Specially dyed in a repeating series of colors that unspool in fascinating ways, smoky mauve blends into tangerine into bright morning blue. It’s a joy to knit with a yarn so rich in variation! Add to that two different colorways working side-by-side in two directions, and swoon! Our Side-By-Side Scarf Bundles give you three beautiful color palettes to choose from.

Side-By-Side Scarf | Purl Soho

What may look complex is really all the work of Novella‘s long lengths of color. The knitting is actually super simple. You begin by casting on the long way and then work in garter stitch for a couple of inches. Because the knitting is so wide at this point, Novella’s repeats of specially dyed color spread out into delicate, thin stripes.

Side-By-Side Scarf | Purl Soho

Next, you work a section of stripes perpendicular to the first stripes. For this section, you cast on 16 additional stitches, and working just those stitches, you attach one side to the top edge of the first section… All as you knit and without a lick of sewing. Very cool and also very easy!

Side-By-Side Scarf | Purl Soho

And when you work over so few stitches, you’ll see that Novella‘s stripes are deeper, piling up like layers of a sunset and just as captivating! Plus, it all feels absolutely wonderful in Novella’s extraordinarily soft and supple mix of extra fine merino and mulberry silk.

Side-By-Side Scarf | Purl Soho

Get absorbed into knitting your own gorgeous Side-By-Side Scarf by picking up a Side-By-Side Scarf Bundle, available in three pretty palettes!

If you love the yarn used in this project, you’ll love all of our other yarn, too! Explore our 35+ lovingly created yarn collections, in nearly every natural fiber and spectacular color you can imagine… Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn shop!

Side-By-Side Scarf | Purl Soho

Designed by Purl Soho designer, Hiromi Glover. Click here to see even more of Hiromi’s work!

Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, #PurlSohoSideBySideScarf, and #PurlSohoNovella. We can’t wait to see what you make!

Materials

Side-By-Side Scarf | Purl Soho
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Our Side-By-Side Scarf Bundle comes with all the Novella you’ll need to knit your own scarf. It comes in three palettes and includes…

  • 8 balls of Purl Soho’s Novella, 92% extra fine merino and 8% mulberry silk. Each ball of this sportweight yarn is approximately 142 yards/ 50 grams.
    • Main Color (MC): 4 skeins; approximately 565 total yards required. We used Delphinium Blue.
    • Contrast Color (CC): 4 skeins; approximately 480 total yards required. We used Sea Urchin.

You will also need…

Or make your own bundle! Just pick up 4 balls of 2 colors. You can’t go wrong!

Side-By-Side Scarf | Purl Soho

GAUGE

21 stitches and 42 rows (21 ridges) = 4 inches in garter stitch

SIZE

Finished Dimensions: 12 inches wide x 72 inches long

NOTES

CONSTRUCTION

You will cast on the length of the scarf and work a couple of inches in garter stitch (Horizontal Stripe 1). You will then work Vertical Stripe 1, attaching it to Horizontal Stripe 1 as you go. You’ll repeat this process, and finish with a final Horizontal Stripe!

STRIPE REPEATS

Because your balls of yarn may start and end at different points in the stripe repeat, every Side-By-Side Scarf will be unique. Embrace what happens!

SLIP STITCHES

Slip all slipped stitches purlwise.

PATTERN

With Main Color (MC), cast on 378 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.

TIP: When you’re casting on so many stitches, it really helps to place a marker or piece of scrap yarn every 50 stitches. That way, when you lose count (which you will!), you won’t have to recount all the stitches. Just remember to remove these markers when you work the first row.

HORIZONTAL STRIPE 1

With MC, knit every row until piece measures 2 inches from cast-on edge, ending with a wrong-side row. Cut yarn.

VERTICAL STRIPE 1

At the beginning of next row, with right side facing you and Contrast Color (CC), insert needle between the first 2 stitches and use a cable cast on to loosely cast on 1 stitch, place marker (pm), loosely cast on 15 stitches. [394 total stitches]

Row 1 (right side): Knit to marker, slip marker, slip last stitch of Vertical Stripe, knit next stitch of Horizontal Stripe, pass slipped stitch over to join Vertical Stripe to Horizontal Stripe, turn work.

Row 2 (wrong side): Move working yarn between needles to back of work, knit to end of row, slipping marker when you come to it.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until all stitches from previous Horizontal Stripe have been worked, removing marker on last row and ending with a right-side row.

Next Row (wrong side): Bind off knitwise and cut yarn.

HORIZONTAL STRIPE 2

NOTE: For help with picking up stitches, please visit our tutorial and scroll down the page to the Along A Vertical Edge: Garter Stitch, Between Ridges video.

Orient scarf with cast-on edge at the bottom and Vertical Stripe across the top. With right side facing you and with MC, pick up and knit one stitch between each garter ridge along top edge, starting at upper right corner of scarf. Be sure to start picking up between cable-cast-on row of Vertical Stripe and first garter ridge, and finish picking up between last garter ridge and bind-off row from the Vertical Stripe. [378 total stitches on the needle]

With MC, knit every row until piece measures 2 inches from pick-up edge, ending with a wrong-side row. Cut yarn.

VERTICAL STRIPE 2

Work as for Vertical Stripe 1.

HORIZONTAL STRIPE 3

Work as for Horizontal Stripe 2, but do not cut yarn.

With right side facing you, bind off knitwise loosely.

FINISHING

Weave in the ends and gently wet block.

Side-By-Side Scarf | Purl Soho
Side-By-Side Scarf | Purl Soho

Learn About Novella + All Our Beautiful Yarns

The beauty of Novella is in its creative possibilities! A specially dyed self-striping yarn, Novella is always surprising to knit, with stripe following colorful stripe. And more… Its plies are two subtly different colors, adding depth and fascination to every stitch. Made in Italy, Novella is a sport-weight yarn, made with 92% extra fine merino wool, the softest merino there is, plus 8% mulberry silk. The merino lends body and bounce to the yarn (and fun to your knitting experience!), while the silk adds luster to its surface and also beauty to its drape. Combine more than one color, stripe it with a solid color, change directions… Novella is asking to play!

More Free Knitting Patterns

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Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!