Salt!

Salt is a lovely wearable textured sideways triangle shawl. It works up quickly in worsted weight and looks great with all your outfits.

The pattern includes both written and charted instructions!

I couldn’t quite figure out why I wanted to call this project Salt. I had an inkling it was related to the Wiccan salt circle, a practice I think about often when dealing with difficult folks. A kind way to set a boundary, and a great visual metaphor (which my brain always loves). The Wikipedia article on Salt mentions this tradition “In Wicca, salt is symbolic of the element Earth. It is also believed to cleanse an area of harmful or negative energies. A dish of salt and a dish of water are almost always present on an altar, and salt is used in a wide variety of rituals and ceremonies.” I was curious about more about Salt though and I went back onto google to look up some salt related idioms, cliches and sayings. Salt has a pretty rich history in Religion, ceremony, and is involved in lots of incredible metaphors.

There’s of course, salty language, salt tears, the ocean and all it’s salt-watery-ness, and people can be old salts (wise old sailors with stories to tell). You can rub salt in someone’s wounds (Um, but don’t because that makes you an asshole). One of my favourite meanings that I found, of course the saying “the salt of the earth” meaning of which I’ve slurped from google “a person or group of people of great kindness, reliability, or honesty” A lovely combination of words and meaning that I try to live by.

I just love the depth this bit of research has added to my knowledge of the word. And I feel fully validated in choosing this odd name for this beautiful shawl!

Yarn:

3 skeins of Malabrigo Rios in colourway “131 Sand Bank” or 630 yards (576 metres) of worsted weight yarn.

Needles:

3.75mm (US 5) circular needles in at least a 24” (60cm) cord. Or whatever size needles it takes you to get gauge.

Notions:

Things to block your shawl with.

Gauge:

19 stitches and 30 rows = 4” (10cm) square knit flat in pattern and blocked.

Size:

65” (165 cm) measured along the wingspan.
30” (76 cm) measured down the deepest part of the triangle.

As with all my for-pay patterns, if you find yourself low on funds do not hesitate to email me (softsweaterknits@gmail.com) and I will happily gift the pattern to you - just make sure to include your ravelry username in the message!

Thank you Nicola Hodges and Vivienne McMaster for modelling and to Nicola Hodges for tech editing!