Beginner Shawl Knitting Pattern

It took me a long time to attempt knitting my first non rectangular shawl. I was nervous about shaping such a large piece of work and having wasted a huge amount of time (not to mention yarn, which we all know isn’t cheap!). Many of the patterns that I found online at the time required complicated increases and hard to follow stitch patterns. And, I don’t know about you but, my favourite type of knitting pattern is the kind that doesn’t require arduous concentration, so I wasn’t really willing to try those out! However, after a bit of experimenting, I came up with some of my own designs that are simple and stress free – just how I like them!

The Northbound Shawl is a design that I came up with early on in my knitting journey. It’s knit with large needles and chunky weight yarn and the design is incredibly uncomplicated. You’ll simply repeat the same two rows over and over!

If you are a lazy knitter like me, then I have a feeling you will be addicted to shawl knitting after completing this fun pattern.

Materials:

• Paintbox Yarns Simply Chunky 100% Acrylic Yarn
  • 4 Skeins Vanilla Cream (Colour A).
  • 2 Skeins Pure Black Colour B).
• Size 13 (9 mm) 32” or longer circular knitting needles.
• Two Stitch Markers.
• Scissors.
• Yarn needle to weave in ends.

Measurements:

Finished shawl has a wingspan of 81“ / 206 cm and a depth of 23“ / 58 cm.

Gauge:

15 stitches, 18 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch.

Abbreviations:

K: Knit.

Kfb: Knit into the front and back of the same stitch.

P: Purl.

PM: Place marker.

SM: Slip marker.

St / sts: Stitch / stitches.

Notes:

The shawl is worked from the top down in garter stitch, with a centre spine of 15 stitches. Four stitches are increased every other row, creating two triangular sections that grow outward from either side of the centre spine.

Blocking is optional since garter stitch naturally lies flat. However, you may wish to block your finished shawl to even out the stitches, straighten the edges, and improve the overall drape.

Row 1: K2, kfb, k1, kfb, PM, k15, PM, kfb, k1, kfb, k2. (29 sts)

Row 2: K all sts.

Row 3: K2, kfb, k to last st before first marker, kfb, SM, k15, SM, kfb, k to last 3 sts, kfb, k2.

Row 4: K all sts.

Repeat rows 3 and 4, switching colors according to the Colour Scheme.

Colour Scheme:

24 Rows Colour A

16 Rows Colour B

34 Rows Colour A

16 Rows Colour B

24 Rows Colour A

After completing the final 24 rows of Colour A, continue to Finishing.

The final stitch count will be 253 sts.

Finishing

Cast off knitwise and weave in all loose ends using a yarn / tapestry needle.