After giving me some initial fits, this crocheted shawl pattern was just meant to be. 🙂

I dyed this beautiful yarn, using the colors from my Dover Castle colorway (now discontinued, but you can see current sock yarn listings here), into a custom gradient just for moi. I had so much emotion with it, because as I’ve mentioned before, when I went to England this spring, I saw the Dover Castle and it was the single most inspiring thing for me while there.

The entire trip was a dream come true, as I’ve always wanted to travel the world, but the chance had never really materialized. When my niece and her mom (my sis-in-law) said they were going to England to see my niece’s boyfriend (who is in the air force), that tickets were reasonable, lodging would be free since he had a house and asked if I wanted to go, I looked at my niece, looked at my sis-in-law and exclaimed with my hands flailing in the air, “I’M GOING! WOO!” And I went.

The Dover Castle was STUNNING. The history is amazing. The view, indescribable. We walked through the entire castle and all around the grounds, including the underground tunnels.

As we walked along, I had the most incredible feeling, as if I could do anything I set my mind to in life. The wind was biting and cold, the sun was bright; it was just gorgeous.

The combination of the brisk cold and the exhilaration of the adventure created a desire in me to design and knit a beautiful shawl based on that feeling and that I could actually wear during travels. (I also decided I was going to build my own castle to live in, but we’ll ignore that moment of delusion.)

So I dyed up this yarn in a lovely gradient and set about to make something epic.

I began knitting 4 different items with this yarn and none of them were satisfying me. I don’t even remember them all.

If I’ve learned anything in knitting/crocheting, it’s to stop and DO IT RIGHT. So I asked myself if ALL that time spent knitting was wasted and I thought, “No.” If I’m not going to wear it or feel proud giving it to someone, then it needs to be redone.

And this yarn means too much to me to just slam together something I wasn’t going to treasure.

So it hit me.

Since I’ve been wanting to crochet a shawl, I thought, why not use this yarn?

neptune's tears crocheted shawl

So I did!

I decided to make:

•Neptune’s Tears crocheted shawl pattern (and am wildly in love with it.)
•Hook Size: 4.0mm (G)
•Yarn: My LusterSoft Fingering Superwash Merino Wool, approx 400 yards (1 ball is 369 yards which would have been enough, as the yarn stretches once blocked and dried and I feel this turned out a leetle too big, but oh, well!)
•Project Mods: I ended it differently than the pattern called for, by just finishing with a basic row of double crochets to create a smooth, straight edge.

So now I know what the problem was! The yarn wanted to be crocheted all this time, not knitted! How was I to know?

It wouldn’t let me thwart its destiny.

It was a super quick project (took me a week or two?) and turned out beautifully, don’t you think?

crocheted shawl pattern lace

I did tack on some undyed, cream yarn at the end to make it a little bigger. I regret that a little, as I think it turned out a smidge too big for my body (I’m 5’1″) but all in all, I’m delighted with it.

I think it will go perfectly with lighter wash jeans and a variety of tops, including nude like I’m wearing in the photos, or soft purples, of which I have several.


easy crochet shawl pattern

 

beginner's lacey crochet shawl patternclose up crocheted shawl pattern sexy

What do you think about this crocheted shawl pattern? Do you ever have to redo projects again and again? How do you handle it?

To see my current sock yarn listings, just have a click HERE.

Also, stay tuned as I have a photo tutorial created for you of how to block a hand-knit or crocheted shawl, using this one as an example. I hope you have a great day!

~Chandi