Loom Knitting: Make a shawl

Now that you know how to loom knit, you ought to make a shawl. For whatever reason, handcrafted shawls are all the rage now in the fashion world. It is always nice to have one to toss over bare shoulders on a slightly cool summer night, while at a holiday party or simply to ward off a chill in deepest, darkest winter. This is why I thought I’d show you how to make a shawl on your loom knitter. We’ll be using the round loom to make a flat panel as I showed you how to do that a while back. You will need to know some basic crochet stitches for the edging, but if you’d rather not crochet, I have a solution for that, too, so no worries.

This is such a super easy shawl to make that you’ll want to have one in several colors for each and every occasion. Plus they make great gifts. My own mother loved hers!

What you need:

Knitting loom with 48 pegs (the largest round one)

hooking tool

worsted weight yarn of any variety (I used Red Heart super saver)

crochet hook size G

Instructions:

1. E-wrap yarn starting at the anchor peg all the way around, ending at the peg just before the anchor peg.

2. You will be making a flat panel which means you’ll be going back in the opposite direction to make the first row.

3. Work the desired length in the e-wrap stitch. I made mine about 54 inches long, but I probably should have made it longer.

4. Cast off.

Edging:

5. Using the crochet hook, make a row of single crochet at each stitch with a chain one between each single crochet, along the end you just cast off.

6. At the corner work a single crochet, chain 3, single crochet.This will have you turning a corner and onto the long side of the shawl.

7. Down the side, work a single crochet plus a chain one at each e-wrap row.

8. Repeat rows 6 at the other end, which is the beginning row.

9. Turn the corner and repeat row 7 along the other side. Slip stitch to the first single crochet.*

10. Chain 4 and double crochet in the corner space. Chain 1 and double crochet in the same corner space. This is the V-stitch plus one for the corner.

11.Work a V-stitch double crochet, chain 1, double crochet in same space) at every chain one space.

12. At the corner work a V-stitch plus one and then continue the rest of the way in the same manner until the end. Bind off and weave in ends.**

There you have your finished shawl. Just a few hours on your loom knitter and it could be all done, so why don’t you try making a pretty shawl to give or to keep. All you need is a knitting loom and basic crochet skills. Lacking the crochet skill you could always just make a garter stitch edging if you prefer. See? I make things easy for everyone!

*You can stop here and bind off if you prefer, or you can continue for a little fancier edging.

**You can make the edging wider just by adding another row of V-stitch all the way around.

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Glory Lennon learned needle crafts like sewing, knitting and crocheting from her mother who used to spend countless hours making intricate doilies, clothing items and heirloom quality bedspreads. Visit Glory’s Garden on Craft Tuesday and see what she’s up to in the craft room.