This easy shawl is a good start for knitters who want to learn to make sock yarn shawls. The stockinette field on each wing shows off pretty hand dyed yarn really well and the end result will look like you worked much harder than you did. If you’re a little more adventurous, you can easily modify this pattern to incorporate fancier stitch patterns.

Wings uses a tab start (photo tutorial included in pattern) and has two large fields of stockinette (knit stitches on right side, purl stitches on wrong side) bordered by garter stitches (knit stitches on both sides).

A tab start to a shawl gives you a nearly invisible cast on edge. This is because you will make a tiny square/rectangle and then pick up stitches along three sides of it. The reason we do this is to create a stretchy triangle - the longest edge of the triangle becomes a selvedge (edge) and the two wings grow until you’re ready to bind off. Once you’ve created your tab, your shawl will start to grow.

I used 400 yards of fingering sock yarn for the shawlette but you can substitute any weight yarn or yardage. Note, however, that you’ll need to adjust needle size - for example, the photo tutorial in the pattern uses a worsted weight yarn (Cherub Aran) and I used US8 needles on it. You’ll also need to adjust yardage as 400 yards of worsted weight yarn/US 8 needles will give you a much different size than 400 yards of fingering/US 4 needles. If you want a bigger shawl in fingering, I recommend 800 yards (usually 200 g or 2 skeins).

Tricks You Need to Know (or want to learn):

1. Beginner Basics: cast on, knit, purl, bind off. In this pattern, you’ll do a stretchy bind off.
2. Picking up and knitting stitches (this is the tab start)
3. Using stitch markers (optional but really helpful)
4. Increasing (yarn overs - YO).
5. Working with thinner yarns (for those of you who are used to worsted or bulky yarn).

Gauge is not critical but make sure you like the density of your fabric. If it’s too lacy, go down a needle size. If it’s too dense, go up a needle size.