Moogly Shows You How to Crochet the Openwork Shawl!

How to Crochet the Openwork Shawl by Lion Brand Yarn!

by Tamara Kelly, www.mooglyblog.com

Lion Brand Yarn has a plethora of free crochet patterns on their site, and one of the best ones for beginning crocheters is the Openwork Shawl! It uses simple stitches combined with a gorgeous yarn to stunning effect. Of course, it’s great for experienced crocheters as well – a pattern that is relaxing to crochet with a beautiful one skein result!

To begin, you’ll want to grab the Openwork Shawl pattern here on Lion Brand Yarn, as well as the materials listed: one ball of Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball, a US-J, 6.0mm hook, and a yarn needle and scissors – though you won’t need the needle and scissors until the very end. Then, you can follow along with the photo tutorial below… or go all the way to the end for the video tutorial!

Step 1: Like most crochet patterns, you begin with a slip knot! This is implied, not spelled out in most written patterns.

Step 2: Chain 67. Remember that the loop on your hook is NOT included in this count!

Step 3: Double crochet into the 5th chain from the hook. You can go into whichever part of the chain you prefer for this, but do your best to be consistent as you work back across the chain.

Step 4: Then we begin the way we’ll continue all the way across – chain 1, then skipping the next chain, double crochet in the next chain after that. Then chain 1, skip the next chain, and double crochet in the next chain… over and over again, until you end up with a double crochet in the very last chain.

Step 5: To being Row 2, you chain 4. This chain 4 will “count as” a double crochet stitch and a chain 1. Sound familiar?

Step 6: Next, you skip over the chain 1 in Row 1 below, and double crochet in the next double crochet. Do your best to go under both loops of the stitch.

Step 7: From here, it’s just the same – chain 1, skip the next chain, double crochet in the next double crochet… repeating all the way to the end of Row 2! The very last stitch of Row 2 will go in the top of the chain 3 that represented the first dc of Row 1. So, skip the chain closest to the last Row 1 double crochet, and put you last Row 2 double crochet in the chain right after that.

NOTE! To keep track and make sure your shawl will have even sides, don’t forget to count your stitches! Including the chain 3 that counts as a double crochet, you should have 33 double crochets in each row. 

Step 8: Repeat what you did for Row 2 to make Row 3 and beyond (steps 5-7). Keep going until you don’t have enough yarn left to make a whole nother row. Here’s where we use the scissors and needle – cut off the excess remaining yarn, leaving about 6 inches after the last stitch. Pull this end through the last loop on the hook to secure it, and weave in the ends with the yarn needle! You can see a demo of this – as well as the rest of the shawl – in the video below!

And that’s all there is to making the Openwork Shawl from Lion Brand Yarn! I hope this tutorial has helped you feel ready to tackle this lovely free crochet pattern!