I am a Tribal Fusion bellydancer and always on the hunt for new dancing shawls. There is a special kind of design that is hardly being produced any more since the older women who made it are not doing it any more and the young ones are not interested to learn. I am speaking of Assiut shawls/fabric, a black mesh that is embellished with tiny pieces of metal (silver, brass and even gold) in geometric patterns, often diamonds or crosses and zig-zag-patterns on the edges. It is als being called Egyptian mummy cloth, too. How cool is that? It has been used by traditional bellydancers as well as in the modern form Tribal Fusion. It was also worn draped over the head, as wraps, and as wedding gowns. I have seen it in black/silver, white/gold, turquoise/silver, green/silver and red/silver.
This is the second design in my Assiut inspired series, a regular scarf that is lacier and less timeconsuming than the stole. It has a symmetrical design: edge - repeats - center panel - repeats - edge (upside down) The center panel marks the middle of the scarf (lenghtwise). You can knit more star repeats of course but they use an insane amount of beads and add to the weight. I used 27 gr. of beads for a small shawl that is only 29x93 cm..
Yarn used in photo: 2 balls Lang Yarns ,MerinoSeta", knit on 4mm needles, beadsize 4.5mm (5/0)
Materials
lace to DK weight yarn in a solid colour 4.5 mm Rocailles beads knitting needles stitch markers I used a 0.85 mm crochet hook to knit in the beads. But there are other methods, to According to my supplier a 17gr. box of beads holds approx. 230 beads. You need 2-3 or more boxes, depending on how long a scarf you make. 78 (edge) + 5 (each repeat) + 174 (center panel) + 5 (each repeat) + 78 (edge) beads How long a scarf do you want to knit? I = cm/inch
Instructions
CO 3 + 43 + 3 stitches. (edge + chart + edge.) Knit 3 rows in garter stitch. Knit 24 rows for edge pattern. Always knit the 3 st at beginning and end of row as follows: RS: p,k,p Ws:k,p,k Measure height: h =__ cm/inch The center panel is about as high as the edge pattern. Knit repeats until you have approx I- 3\*h = cm/inch. Divide by 2(rep = _ cm/inch) and you have the height of repeats that you need to knit between edge and center. Knit center panel. Now turn the page upside down and follow the pattern from the center panel upwards. Knit repeats for rep = cm/inch. Knit 24 rows for edge pattern. Knit 2 rows in garter stitch. BO using an elastic bind-off method. Block. This is important: The chart only shows the right side rows! Purl across every wrong side row. Enjoy!
Chart
When you turn the page upside down, a / is still k2tog and a \ is ssk. Just the symbol for s2,k1,psso is upside down.
