The Leftover Shawl

Ah, the Leftover Shawl, aka Granny Stripes Get Together or The Shawl I Shouldn't Be Working On Because I Haven't Finished The Boy's Blanket Yet.

The Boy's blanket, as I mentioned before in this post, is very grey.  And very square.  It's cool and interesting and a great adventure too, but I took a little break from it to make up the Hearts and Flowers bunting (free pattern!), but it turns out that it was a bit like a gateway drug, just one little hit and all of a sudden I'm reaching for the pretty colours and making a shawl.

The Leftover Shawl WIP, in white, pomegranate and duck egg so far.

In my defence, I am using yarn leftover from the Hearts and Flowers blanket, so it's not like I went out and bought more yarn for it.  I'm actually doing a good thing, using some stash yarn. But still, I should be working on The Boy's blanket and if he notices that I've started a shawl he won't be happy.  So I should have stopped.  But I haven't.

It's a really easy shawl to make, just a simple twist on granny stripes.  After 2 set up rows, there are 2 pattern rows, repeated until the yarn is used up or your shawl reaches the desired size.

A quick note, I use chain 1, treble at the beginning of each row.  It's not as perfectly neat as using a starting treble, but it leaves less ends for darning in and I like to have a proper stitch to work the next row in rather than fiddling with the top of a chain 3.  Use whatever works best for you - so when I say chain 1, treble in first stitch, you can substitute a starting treble or chain 3 if you prefer.

Set up row 1: Chain 4 and working in last chain from hook, work 2 treble, 2 chain, 3 treble.

Set up row 2: Chain 1, treble in first stitch, chain 2, work 3 treble together, in the first stitch already worked and the next 2 stitches, chain 2.  In the corner 2 chain space, work 3 treble, chain 2, 3 treble, chain 2  Work 3 treble together over the next 3 stitches, chain 2 and work 3 treble together over the next 3 stitches.  Chain 2 and work 1 treble in the first stitch (which was where you worked the last of your 3 treble together).

Now, on with the pattern.

Row 1: Chain 1, treble in first stitch.  Work 3 treble in each chain 2 space to the corner.  At the corner work 3 treble, 2 chain, 3 treble.  Work 3 treble in each chain 2 space to the corner.  Work 1 treble in last stitch.

Row 2: Chain 1, treble in first stitch.  * Chain 2, work 3 treble together over next 3 stitches.  Repeat from * to the corner and work 2 chain, 3 treble, 2 chain, 3 treble in the corner.  Repeat the chain 2, work 3 treble together over next 3 stitches up to the last stitch, work 1 treble in the last stitch.

These 2 rows are the pattern, lovely and easy to remember and perfect for Netflix crochet, or Car Share crochet as I was doing last night.  (Crochet and comedy, made for each other.)

I am using oddments of yarn and will keep going until I have a fairly large shawl, but I can't give you a precise yarn requirement.  I am working 1 repeat of the 2 rows in different colours, alternating with white and using duck egg for every other colour, just because that arrangement pleases me.  I have a feeling that I will add some sort of pretty border at the end too, and I'll add that here when I get to it.  I just wanted to share this now, because it's the perfect project for a long bank holiday weekend.  The stripes of colour make it interesting, I love seeing how the colour combination develops, but it's easy enough to work on while you're in the car, talking to someone or watching a movie.

My yarn is Stylecraft Special DK and I have white, duck egg, pistachio, fondant, pomegranate and lemon.

What are your making plans for the long weekend?