This is my 300^th post on this blog!  I am very excited to still be writing the blog, and happy that people keep reading it.

To celebrate my 300^th post, I designed and knit a beautiful, colourful shawl and have posted the pattern here for you.

I had three goals in mind with this pattern:

1. It had to be in garter stitch. (Mindless knitting, yeah!)
2. It had to use yarn already in my stash. (Limited funds, boo!)
3. It had to match my COOL BOOTS! (Cool boots, yeah!)

(The boots are from Camper.)

Here is a photo of it laid flat:

I love this shawl.  It is a deceptively simple pattern, composed of long, thin triangles, but once it’s off the needles it has fabulous drape and the colour pops!

Please enjoy the pattern.

Cool Boots: a shawl pattern by Kelly Sloan

The shawl is knit lengthwise in garter stitch, with six very long triangles formed with short rows.  Please read the pattern through before knitting, particularly the Notes at the end.  You should review the instructions for German short rows in garter stitch (which you can find in this post on the blog).

Size: Approximately 18” x 70”

Yarn: Fingering weight wool in three colours; approximately 70 grams (350 meters/383 yards) of each colour.  For this shawl I used Tvinni Tweed by Isager in shades 17S, 28S, and 32S.  These are 100% wool tweed yarns in shades of red, coral and fuchsia, with a grey tweed undertone.

Needles: US 4 (for the shawl); US 6 (for casting on and binding off)

Gauge:  24 stitches and 48 rows (24 garter ridges); very lightly blocked.

When I took the shawl off the needles, it measured 16.5″ x 64″.  I very lightly wet blocked it to 18″ x 70″.

Directions.

With Colour A and US 6 needles, cast on 380 stitches.

Switch to US 4 needles.

Triangle 1:

Row 1 (RS) – knit 2 rows.  (You will have one garter ridge on RS of work).

Row 3 (RS) – knit to 12 stitches from end, turn work.

Row 4 (WS) and each remaining (WS) row – slip first st as if to purl, pull yarn to the back, knit across all remaining stitches (you have thus performed a German short row; see Notes).

Row 5 and RS rows: Knit until 12 stitches from the last German short row (indicated by the “double stitch”), turn work.

Continue until 18 stitches remain before the last German short row.  (This number could vary depending on how you count your short rows.  Continue until you have between 12 and 24 stitches before last short row.)

Next row (RS) – knit all the way across, knitting each ‘double stitch’ together as one stitch. (See Notes for German short row.)

Next row (WS) – knit all stitches

You should now have two garter ridges at the narrowest edge of the triangle with the right side facing you.  At the wide edge, you should have 32 garter ridges (note that this number is not important, but it should be the same for each triangle.)

Triangle 2:

Change to Colour B.  Knit 3 rows, ending with a RS row.  You should have one garter ridge with Colour B with the right side facing.

Row 4 (WS) – Knit to 12 stitches from end, turn work.

Row 5 (RS) and each remaining (RS) row – slip first st as if to purl, pull yarn to the back, knit across all remaining stitches (you have thus performed a German short row; see Notes)

Row 6 and WS rows: Knit until 12 stitches from the last German short row (indicated by the “double stitch”), turn work.

Continue until 18 stitches remain before last short row (or same number of stitches as for last triangle).

Next row (WS): knit across all stitches, knitting each ‘double stitch’ together as one stitch.

You should now have two garter ridges at the narrowest part of triangle 2, when viewed from the right side.

Repeat these instructions twice more, thus making a total of 6 triangles, changing colours as indicated in the chart.

With RS facing, and using a US6 needle, cast off all stitches.

Finishing: Weave in ends.  Wash and block lightly.

Notes

Note 1.  Weigh your yarn.  At the end of the first triangle, weigh remaining yarn of Colour A.  You will need enough yarn for two triangles in each of the three shades.

Note 2.  In the beginning, mark the right side (RS) of work with a removable stitch marker.

Note 3. All colour changes are made at the beginning of a RS row.

Note 4.  The narrow edge of each triangle has two garter ridges.  The first of these is made before you begin the short rows; the second garter ridge is made at the end of the triangle, after the short rows, when you knit across all of the stitches.

Note 5. On the first, third and fifth triangle, the short rows are made (the work is turned before the end of the row) on the RS rows; on the second, fourth, and sixth triangles, the short rows are made on the WS rows.

Note 6.  There is a photo tutorial of how to do German Short Rows in garter stitch on my blog.  You can find it in this post.  This is by far the easiest way to make short rows in garter stitch, and should not leave any holes in your work.

Note 7.  Put a removable stitch marker into the ‘double stitch’ formed by the German short row.  After each short row, you can move the marker, so it always marks the last short row knitted.  This makes it easier to know when to turn on the next turn row.

Note 8.  When counting the 12 stitches between short rows, I counted the ‘double stitch’ from the previous short row as stitch number 1.  This is illustrated here:

Note 9. You can make the shawl shorter or longer by casting on fewer or more stitches, respectively.  You can change the width of the shawl by increasing or decreasing the number of stitches between each short row (the more stitches between short rows the “narrower” the triangle will be).

That seems like a lot of Notes, but the pattern is very intuitive and easy peasy.  Please enjoy!

This shawl has not been test knitted.  If you find any mistakes, or have trouble understanding any part of it, please let me know.  You can leave a question on the blog, or you can write to me on Ravelry (my Rav name is kellydawn).

A final note: Please respect my copyright.  Do not reproduce or publish any part of this pattern without my permission.