Waffle weave is all about transformation. A structure that truly comes to life in your hands, we continue to be enamoured about the squishy, soft cloth it creates. Part of our 2026 Winterful Weave-Along, the Cobblestone Road Scarf was created by Leslie Green for 4-shaft loom weavers. Using Fibonacci sequences and earth-toned colours, the resulting woven scarf is irresistibly hypnotizing!
EXPLORING WAFFLE WEAVE
Waffle weave is a structure that has this incredible ability to turn what seems to be a two-dimensional flat surface into a three-dimensional object with amazing depth. We’ll take flat, simple threads on the loom and, with a little bit of weaving knowledge and the magic of water, we’ll create a fabric that is deeply textured, cushy, and wonderfully tactile. It’s a structure that comes to life in your hands, and the process is incredibly rewarding.
After we explored waffle weave in the course with the Sunday Morning Waffle Towels and the beautiful Baker Street Scarf (woven on seven shafts), we couldn’t resist creating another scarf. This time, we wanted to bring the beautiful yarn and irresistible cosiness of this weave structure together in a 4-shaft loom pattern.
We were thrilled when Leslie Green, our wonderful sample weaver, agreed to sample and design the Cobblestone Road Scarf. The first step? Finding just the right fabric.
SAMPLING FOR THE RIGHT FABRIC
Leslie began by sampling three colours of SweetGeorgia Trifecta Fine that were close in value: Tumbled Stone (dark, or D), Birch (medium, or M), and Natural (light, or L) at a sett of 16 ends per inch (EPI).
For the first sample, Leslie wove a large waffle weave with an eight-pick treadling sequence. After wet-finishing, the weave structure and yarn created a thick, warm fabric with lovely drape. The long floats were the main design feature, but they were too long to be practical for a scarf.
For the second sample, Leslie tried a small waffle weave with a six-pick treadling sequence. At 16 EPI and 15 picks per inch (PPI), the fabric was nearly balanced on the loom. After wet-finishing, it compressed to 19 EPI and 18 PPI, creating a soft, squishy cloth with beautiful drape.
The shorter warp floats let the colour patterning shine while keeping the float length suitable for a scarf. This sample really brought out the luxurious yarn’s soft, inviting feel.
Seeing and feeling the samples helped Leslie choose three colours with greater contrast between their light, medium, and dark values for the finished scarf. The warp uses all three colours, with the dark and medium shades taking centre stage. The scarf was woven mainly with the light colour in the weft, with stripes added throughout in the LMDDDM colour sequence for a little extra interest. Using the light colour for most of the weft also made good use of the yarn left after warping.
A COBBLESTONE-INSPIRED PATTERN
The scarf has a lovely balance of light and dark, with a lighter face and a darker back. On the face, the light weft colour highlights the warp’s LMDDDM value gradation, with dark inner cells outlined by light yarn. Weft bands in the same colour sequence add another layer of interest. The pattern reminded us of a cobblestone road, inspiring the name: Cobblestone Road Scarf.
On the back, the look is reversed: dark yarn surrounds the light cells, and dark- and medium-coloured stripes take the lead.
Together, the weave structure and yarn create a thick, warm fabric with beautiful drape and sumptuous feeling against the skin. It’s a lovely combination for a cosy scarf, finished with tidy twisted fringes.
EXPAND YOUR WEAVING SKILLS AT THE SCHOOL
Looking to expand your weaving skills and find inspiration for other projects? Visit the School of SweetGeorgia (SOS) to explore our growing library of weaving, knitting, crochet, spinning, and dyeing courses. There you can learn more about the fabulous texture of waffle weave in Felicia Lo’s online course, Weaving Waffle Weave!
The course guides you from the foundations of 4-shaft waffle weave to the more complex possibilities of weaving on eight or more shafts. Once you understand how the structure works, you can use that knowledge to design your own waffle weave creations.
Cobblestone Road Scarf in SweetGeorgia Trifecta Fine
Equipment
- 1 4-shaft loom with a minimum of 12" / 30.5 cm of weaving width
- 1 8-dent reed or 12-dent reed 8-dent reed sleyed with two threads per dent, or 12-dent reed sleyed in a 1-1-2 sequence
- 3 stick shuttles or boat shuttles with bobbins
Materials
- 1 skein SweetGeorgia Trifecta Fine in Bright Penny
- 1 skein SweetGeorgia Trifecta Fine in Honey Gold
- 1 skein SweetGeorgia Trifecta Fine in Fresh Air *see notes below
Instructions
Setting Up & Sampling
- Download the pattern from the School of SweetGeorgia or the SweetGeorgia shop.
- Wind the warp following the Warp Colour Order table.
- Dress the loom following the threading draft, including the floating edges.
- Tie or lash on the warp ends, centre the warp for a weaving width of 10⅔" / 27 cm, and sley the reed as instructed in the pattern.
- Wind bobbins for the weft yarns.
- Weave a 6" / 15 cm sample, cut it from the loom, and wet-finish.
Weaving the Cobblestone Road Scarf
- Retie the warp and weave the scarf following the Weaving Draft & Weft Colour Order until it measures 78" / 198 cm.
- Finish weaving and cut the scarf from the loom. Repair any weaving errors.
Finishing the Scarf
- Twist the fringe.
- Soak the scarf for 15 minutes with wool soak, gently rinse, and squeeze out the excess water. For this scarf, the damp cloth was then thrown against the bathtub for approximately one minute.
- Allow the scarf to dry, then steam it, holding an iron about 2" / 5 cm above the cloth. Let the steam dry and enjoy your cozy new scarf!
Notes
We Invite You to Connect with Us:
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- Visit the SweetGeorgia Ravelry group where we’ve been sharing yarn, fibre, patterns, and make-alongs since 2008.
The post Exploring Waffle Weave: Cobblestone Road Scarf appeared first on SweetGeorgia Yarns.
