Kaarina is a Finnish female given name and it was also my grandmother’s middle name. Kaarina can also be translated into meaning “in arches” or “as arches”.

The Kaarina shawl is a little kerchief that can be worn in multiple ways. It is started at the tip of the shawl, then increased on every right side row until the full width before decreasing your way back to the other tip. The size can easily be modified by adding more pattern repeats for a larger shawl.

The Kaarina shawl was designed with those odd balls and leftover skeins of fingering weight yarn and mohair we all have in our stashes, but the shawl can also be worked in a single strand of DK weight yarn.

Size
1 (2)
Length 125 (175) cm / 49.25 (68.75) inches
Width 33 (45) cm / 13 (17.75) inches

Yarn
Note: The shawl uses a strand of fingering weight yarn held together with a strand of lace weight yarn, but they can be substituted for a single strand of DK weight yarn. If you wish to work a DK weight version, omit all the instructions where it says “hold the yarns together” and follow only the yarn amount requirements for the fingering weight yarn.

220 (440) m / 245 (490) yards of fingering weight yarn and 220 (440) m / 245 (490) yards of lace weight yarn.

Green sample (size 1): 1 ball of Kaos Yarn Organic Soft Merino (100% merino; 250 meters / 273 yards per 50 g) shown in the colorway Confident and 1 ball of Kaos Yarn Organic Brushed Alpaca (100% organic alpaca; 225 m / 246 yards per 25 g), shown in colorway Zealous.

Ochre sample (size 2): 2 balls of Knitting For Olive Cotton Merino (70% cotton, 30% merino; 250 meters / 273 yards per 50 g) shown in the colorway Dark Ochre and 1 ball of Knitting for Olive Soft Silk Mohair (70% mohair, 30% silk; 225 m / 246 yards per 25 g), shown in colorway Caramel.

Needles
4 mm / US6 circular needle with a cable length of 60 cm or 80 cm / 24 inches or 32 inches

Gauge
30 sts (1 outlined pattern repeat) = 12 cm / 4.75 inches
25 sts and 26 rounds = 10 cm / 4 inches of cable pattern, after blocking
Note: Always use the needle size that gives you the right gauge!

Notions
3 stitch markers
sewing needle
blocking tools
cable needle (if using)