The classic granny shawl

Working out the colours

I’m not a fan of the popular colour change cakes. I prefer to put a little bit of myself in my work by choosing my own colours. Something like a classic granny shawl has been made by many. The way to make yours unique is to choose your own colours.

There are a couple of ways to choose your colour combinations. The one I prefer is a weaver’s warp planning trick.

I take a couple of pieces of card and wrap my colours around in. I experiment with the placement and the size of the stripes.

I tend to choose an odd number of colours and look for a variation of value. One dark, one medium, one lighter.

For this shawl I’ve chosen a pink and two purples, these lie next to each other on the colour wheel and are known as an Analogous colour scheme.

The classic Granny Crochet Shawl Pattern – UK terms

Yarn: Lopi Einband 200gm 1000m

Hook: 3mm

Ch 4, join in 1st ch

Row 1: ch 3, 2tr, ch 2, 3tr

Row 2: ch 3, 2 tr in first st, sk 2 st’s and ch 1, 3tr in the ch 2 sp, ch 2, 3tr in the same ch 2 sp, ch 1, sk 2 sts, end with 3tr in the last st, turn. (12)

Row 3: ch 3, 2tr in first st, ch 1, 3tr in the next ch 1 space, ch 1, 3tr in the next ch 2 sp, ch 2, 3tr in the same ch 2 space, ch 1, 3tr in the next ch 1 space, ch 1, sk 2 sts, 3tr into the last st, turn. (18)

Row 4: ch 3, 2tr in the first st, ch 1, 3tr in the next ch 1 sp, ch 1, 3tr in the next ch 1 sp, ch 1, 3tr in the next ch 2 sp, ch 2, 3tr in the same ch 2 sp, ch 1, 3tr into the next ch 1 space, ch 1, 3tr in the next ch 1 space, ch 1, sk 2 sts, end with 3tr in last st, turn. (24)

Continue the pattern, working 3tr in each 1 ch sp, (3tr 2ch 3tr) in each 2 ch spaces, (3ch, 2tr) in first stitch of row and 3tr in last stitch of row.