The Knitting Fiend/ Diet Diary

You’ve found Lucia’s calculator to create a pattern for “Sarah”, a simple pie wedge type shawl knit in garter stitch. The calculator lets you imitate my design exactly or if you want to substitute another yarn and knit at another gauge, you can enter your own values. My shawl is knit using 4 skeins of Taiga Caress Mohair which is soft on the skein, and softer after you wash it. (It’s also easier to rip than most mohair yarns.) I love this shawl shape for wearing to the theater or opera. The back just reaches the chair– but I don’t need to sit on the shawl. The fronts are long and cover my legs.

The pattern directions created by the calculator will be relatively brief. If you need a tutorials for knitting the pattern, you’ll find a whole bunch in the category shawls. You can also find a lot of tutorials by clicking the numerical links at the bottom of the Barbara Shawl blog post. (Note: The Barbara Shawl has a deep trim, but is not as symmetric as the Sarah. The reason why is discussed in the pie wedge shawl theory post.)

Enter Gauge Information
To obtain an accurate pattern, you must knit a garter stitch gauge swatch using the needles and yarn you picked to knit your shawl, then enter
values here.

Enter your stitch gauge in garter stitch.		Stitch Gauge: st/inch
Enter your row gauge in garter stitch.		Row Gauge: st/inch

Design Your Shawl

Enter the back length (or radius) of your shawl; see figure above.	Shawl Back Length: inches.
Note: Shawl back length is a matter of personal preference. For this shawl shape I recommend a length of 15″ to 26″ inches for a full grown woman. The width of this shawl, shown as a curved line, will usually be at least three times the back length; the program will include a rough estimate based on the knitting geometry. However, when worn or blocked “width” as measured along the curved line will likely be longer than estimated because garter stitch stretches easily on this diagonal edge.
Click to create your pattern.

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