Making the Sophie Scarf with wool embroidery

Hello and welcome to a rather unexpected post. Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s the book, maybe it’s an inspiring instagram post or maybe it is just a warning - that this project can become addictive! Whatever, a woolly scarf in July?

So a couple of weeks ago, Loop (the most beautiful wool shop in London) put up a post about a new kit they were stocking - the ‘Sophie Scarf’ by Petite Knit with some gorgeous wool embroidery taken from Judit Gummlich’s delicious book ‘Embroidery on Knits’. What a lovely collaboration and why is it that I can’t think of these ideas myself? but actually need Loop to fill my head with loveliness. Anyhow I was immediately smitten and perhaps especially fired up because I already had the book and I knew that I had some wool that I could use too. So I ordered the pattern and a few spools of interesting wool embroidery thread from Loop to go with it.

The yarn I used is some I had bought a long while ago when I thought I might try lace knitting. I am fairly sure that is not for me, so am glad to have a chance to use this lovely Blue Faced Leicester wool up, especially as it was grown and spun in Yorkshire. It is only 1ply so it seemed appropriate to use two strands to knit the scarf.

Also a long term resident in my sewing room are a couple of boxes of wool embroidery thread by aurifil and although I had used them on felt projects, in general I wasn’t really getting the use out of them that I would like. The colour palettes are very rich and I had added to them with a few other colours for darning specific projects, so had quite a collection to work with. When I saw Judit Gummlich’s book, I hoped that this would be their moment and it is! I can honestly say that this publication is one of those most beautiful books that rarely comes along and just blows you away. I am not a great knitter and generally prefer to make fairisle accessories rather than sweaters even though I would dearly love to have hand knitted jumpers in my wardrobe. I had been planning to use the book to embroider on some shop bought items in the autumn, but when I saw this project I just couldn’t resist.

It’s a charming pattern, very simple, great for a beginner and easy to do while watching Wimbledon. Strawberries and Cream were definitely the order of three afternoons which was all it took to complete the scarf.

I did add a straight section in the middle to make it longer than the long scarf as I don’t like things tight around my neck these days, but otherwise it was a snap to knit up. I did learn something new and really valuable though - how to do an icord edging which is just so good - it means that the edges lie flat and don’t curl up and I so wish I had known this when I made my Scout Shawl.

Adding the embroidery with some Vlieseline Solufleece from Beyond Measure (link at the bottom) was really so easy. You simply trace your pattern on to the tissue like fabric and pin it to your scarf. In the book it is recommended to use a hoop but the scarf is narrow and I so I just stitched directly on to it.

The woollen thread by aurifil is a dream to work with and the gorgeous little spools of variegated thread from Loop by (Vi)Laines were so soft and just glided through the woollen fabric. It was very quick to do and at the magic moment of popping the completed scarf into a basin of warm water and watch the paper disappear, it is rather thrilling.

You can then add any extra stitches to complete the look of your scarf. My scarf seems quite a loose weave so next time I think I will use thicker wool - in fact I think you can knit up one of these in pretty much any weight of yarn and adapt your needles to suit it. It is lovely and light to wear though so I guess it is a pattern to experiment with.

The scarf is just delightful and I am getting so much better at making my wardrobe cohesive so that when I sew or knit things, they go with other things that I already have. This scarf is perfect with my Liberty gypsy skirt (read about that here) and with my patchwork bag and generally will slot into my wardrobe effortlessly. I can see that with these annoying chilly (summer) days, it will be invaluable.

If you are a novice knitter or a novice embroiderer this is the perfect project for you and if you are more experienced with the needles, you will whip this up in a jiffy and if you are looking for me, I will be off knitting another one because I think this would make a beautiful gift too.

See you soon, Ruby x

Useful links:

Loop Knitting shop has kits, patterns, yarn, embroidery threads and the book and you can find them here

The Vliesilene Solufleece is available from Beyond Measure here and they also have the book and a selection of threads too.

New Threads Quilt Shop have a great selection of Aurifil lana wool threads here