Description

Karibu Sana is a generous, textured scarf designed to add a polished finishing touch that’s just as appropriate in the office as it is in the stunning Maasai Mara. It features a lightweight, reversible fabric inspired by the beautiful Maasai beadwork I admired during my visit to the Mara this past August. In particular, it showcases a central medallion inspired by the Kenyan flag and borders of a popular Maasai pattern of alternating triangles, which behaves well when worn.

Audience
This pattern is appropriate for newer knitters who can knit and purl and who want practice switching between the two. It also makes a fabulous Knetflix & Knit option for more experienced knitters who enjoy a bit of something both interesting and relaxing.

Construction Summary
You will knit approximately two-inch-wide Maasai-triangle borders all the way around the scarf. Between them, the body of the scarf is divided into five stockinette panels, the central one of which bears a starburst reminiscent of the Kenyan flag. The finished scarf requires 618 m (675 yds) of yarn and measures 162 cm (64”) by 33 cm (13.5”) after blocking.

A Note about Printing
If you wish to print this pattern, please note that you can print a full copy of all working instructions by printing only pages 4-9. I strive to ensure that my patterns provide plenty of guidance but you probably only need to read through the discussion pieces once or twice. By printing only these pages, you will have the charts and instructions handy whenever and wherever you knit, for easy reference.

Materials

• 675 yds (618 m; 150 g) of fingering-weight yarn
• 3.5 mm (US 4) needles
• 5 stitch markers
• 1 row counter
• 1 tapestry needle

I chose a muted, rustic tweed yarn that would give me warm, safari-coloured protection against the chill of early-morning game drives and transition well into the heat of Kenyan midday.

I knit my scarf with Brooklyn Tweed’s Tones Light in the Granita undertone and it is lovely! After blocking, the scarf boasts light, airy movement as well as a gentle halo from the woolen-spun yarn. This is a luxury yarn that I feel privileged to work with, so I highly recommend it if it is accessible to you. However, it is not required: you can find lots of suitable substitutions if you search for this yarn at yarnsub.com, and you can even filter the suggestions by additional parameters that are important to you, such as vegan fibre content or price point.

This pattern only requires basic tools.

Gauge
This pattern is written for fingering-weight yarns. In stockinette and reverse stockinette stitch, after blocking, my gauge was about 20 stitches and 30 rows per inch.

On the other hand, it’s a scarf and it doesn’t matter too terribly much. It’ll still fit.