Sacagawea

This shawl is a tribute to Sacagawea and her amazing contributions as a guide to the Lewis & Clark expedition.  Sacagawea was a 16 yr old Native American woman with a baby as she assisted the team on their 7690 mile expedition in 1805-06 from the northern plains through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and back again. 

The sections of the shawl represent their crossing of the Plains, Rocky Mountains, Cascade Mountains, multiple rivers and the Coast Range.  The Mosaic pattern depicts the many challenges and myriad adjustments required in each phase to reach the Pacific Ocean. 

The shawl construction is top-down, triangular and the instructions are both charted and written.   Mosaic is fun and relatively easy as colorwork goes, given that only one color of yarn is used per row.  The solid bands are worked in simple garter stitch.  The Mosaic sections are perfect for a gradient yarn and contrasting colors and smooth yarn is recommended for the colorwork to be vibrant and visible.