Sagittaria Shawl

Here is my Sagittaria Shawl pattern translated into English. My native language isn't English, and therefore the translation might be far from flawless and it probably isn't grammatically correct either. :D If you have any questions or comments concerning the directions or translation please leave a comment to this post or contact me by email sisainen.villapaita (a) netti.fi. This pattern is also available as a downloadable PDF file.

Have fun knitting the shawl!

The shawl is named after the arrowhead pattern in the shawl edging. The triangular shape also reminds me of an archer drawing back the bow. Sagittarius is originally a Latin word meaning “armed with a bow and arrow”. Sagittarius is also an astrological sign. In Latin the word ending –us is usually masculine and a word ending –a is feminine. Therefore, Sagittaria is a woman armed with a bow and arrow, a female archer. When you are wearing this shawl you are carrying a bow and arrows with you.

Sagittaria is also a genus of water plants, including e.g. arrowheads.

Materials

Yarn: the brown shawl is made of Novita Wool (100 % merino wool, 50 g = 135 m), approx. 160 g. The green shawl is made of approx. 150 grams of Drops Alpaca ( 100 % alpaca wool, 50 g = 180 m). You can knit the shawl from virtually any yarn: the thinner the yarn the lighter the shawl and the smaller the pattern.

Needles: Pick about two sizes (2 mm) bigger needles than recommended to the yarn. The size of the needles depends on how tight or loose you knit: my knitting style is quite average, and with the brown shawl I chose 5,5 mm needles when the recommendation is 3,5 mm.

Other equipment: 4 stitch markers, and a tapestry needle to weave in the yarn ends.

Finished Measurements
The size of the brown shawl is 200 cm x 90 cm, the green shawl is 200 cm x 100 cm. The size can be easily adjusted by knitting less or more of rows 1-12 of chart 2.

Pattern Notes
The charts include both right side and wrong side rows: The odd rows are knitted on the RS, and then you read the chart from right to left. The WS rows, the even rows, are knitted from left to right on the charts. Note that in chart two the pattern continues also on the WS! To get larger, more readeble images of the charts move the mouse pointer on the images and click the mouse.


Directions
Cast on loosely 9 sts with the style you prefer. For example, in Flower Basket Shawl designed by Evelyn A. Clarke the stitches are casted on as follows: With contrasting waste yarn and crochet hook, ch 4. With 2 strands of yarn held tog, pick up and knit 2 sts in the bumps on the back side of the center 2 ch—2 sts. Knit 8 rows. Next row: K2, pick up and knit 1 st in each of the 5 garter ridges along selvedge edge of piece, unzip waste yarn chainto expose 2 sts at base of piece, place these 2 sts onto left needle, k2—9 sts total. Knit once rows 1-10 of chart 1.

Start knitting chart 2. This is the central pattern of the scarf. In the brown shawl in the pictures the rows 1-12 of chart 2 have been repeated 7 times while in the green shawl the chart has been repeated 10 times. The size of the shawl can easily be adjusted by repeating chart 2 fewer or more times. The main thing is, that you knit all the rows of chart 2 before starting chart 3, so that the last row knitted before chart 3 is row 12.

When you have repeated chart 2 enough start chart 3. Knit rows 1-12 once and begin knitting chart 4.

Knit rows 1-14 of chart 4 once and continue by knitting the last chart, chart 5.

Knit rows 1-10 of chart 5 once, and on the last row (row 10, WS) cast off sts loosely. Break yarn, but leave a long tail just in case you would have to cast off sts more loosely after blocking.

Finishing
Soak the shawl in water for about 15-20 minutes. Wrap the shawl into towel and gently press it to remove excess water. Lay the shawl flat and block it into shape. Let the shawl dry thoroughly, weave in ends of tails.

A few more pictures of the shawl are available here and here.