Dura Europos Scarf by Emily Stone

Dura Europos Scarf

Knitting
DK (11 wpi) ?
Gauge is not important
US 6 - 4.0 mm
450 - 500 yards (411 - 457 m)
English
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I wanted to use the Dura Europos patterns to make a scarf for my friend, but I could not find an adequate pattern that included all the stitches and was easy to read. Purl Soho’s Ancient Stitch scarf (here on ravelry) has the leaf pattern but not the pomegranate-shaped pattern, and Jo Ann’s pattern (https://www.knittingmagic.biz/patterns/duraeuropos-patter...), the only other one I could find, was very difficult to read. So I wrote it all out myself. I used the border pattern from Purl Soho’s Ancient Stitch scarf. I think you could use this pattern on any number of things!

The leaf pattern is a set of 10 rows and the pomegranate pattern is 24 rows, so I needed to chart the rows to 120 in order to match them up at the end. The border becomes intuitive after awhile but I’ve included it in the pattern anyway. I did not have enough of the Capra to finish 240 rows, so I stopped at row 98 of the second iteration and made a little fringe. READ EVERY ROW LEFT TO RIGHT! I have updated the pattern to say this, so please download again.

Gorgeously dyed by my best friend Michele with dye made from avocado skins and seeds! DK or worsted needed, roughly 500 yards

I also knitted this scarf in Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash worsted (6 skeins ) and held 2 together to make it super squishy. For that scarf, I knitted 120 + 120 + 48 rows. However, I think the pattern is so delicate that the DK looks better.

“This pattern comes from the oldest known piece of knitting in existence. The city of Dura-Europos, on the bank of the Euphrates River in Syria, was founded in 300 b.c. and fell in 256 a.d. Archaeological explorations of this city by Yale University and the French Government uncovered samples of textiles made in the period between these two dates, among them a large fragment of undyed tan wool, Inv. No. 1933.483, knitted in this pattern showing an opposing leaf pattern bordered by repeats of a pomegranate-like shape.” Read more about this fragment: https://nalbound.com/2019/05/08/dura-europos-fragments/.

The pattern shows up beautifully in a lighter color but is also striking in a dark color. Bonus, it is beautiful on the back too!