I have knit one shawl in my life and I finished it just about a week ago. Shawls are for old ladies, right?  I never considered knitting one, until I saw how beautiful shawl patterns are. Just do a search for hand-knit shawls and you will see what I mean!  They are colorful and fun and perfect for women (and men!) of any age.

Now all I regret is that I don’t live in a climate where shawls could be worn. Still, it will not stop me from mastering shawl-knitting.

My First Shawl Project

My one and only shawl project was the No Fuss Shade-loving Shawl which can be downloaded at Ravelry and is offered for free by Susan Ashcroft. Her directions were easy to follow and there was no weird garter tab cast on – which I have yet to figure out how to do.  See my finished shawl below.
I had some trouble choosing a yarn, and ended up trying 3 different ones! It came out a little small also. I should have continued for a few more rows.  But okay for a first try!

The Spindrift Shawl is Free and Comes With Encouragement

When I saw the lovely Spindrift Shawl offered for free on Ravelry, I thought I was too late to get in on the action. Then I went to Curious Handmade site and there it was.. the offer to get this free pattern … on the right sidebar.  Go to either link to find the free pattern.  You will have to sign up to receive e-mails, but this designer has a beautiful selection of patterns and I won’t mind getting mail from her.

Helen, who runs the site, will send me the downloadable pattern and a welcome video.

As she says in her video, when she began shawl knitting she wished she’d had this type of help. It’s perfect timing for me, and I am grateful for the help even if Helen is a stranger who lives in England!  Thank you Helen.

What a nice idea. Also, Helen has tons of gorgeous shawl patterns (and more) to purchase. I can’t wait for the time when I feel confident enough to buy a shawl pattern and create something intricate and beautiful myself.

Baby steps. For now I will try my hand at the Spindrift Shawl.  I have downloaded the pattern.  And I received the second e-mail, which was about choosing the yarn.

Here are the particulars:

Yarn:  Need 437 yards of fingering or sock yarn.

The crescent shaped shawl begins on a size 5 circular needle and switches to a size 6 and is worked from the top down.

The cast on is done using the backward loop method…and I chose a yarn I had purchased from Miss Babs.  It’s a “Wild Iris” which means “one of a kind” color.  I love the lavender, off-white and brown accents.

As you can see in my photo, I have begun knitting the shawl.