This was a WORLD CUP summer, as some of you know. I scheduled my shifts and deadlines around the games, often staying up into the wee hours editing after watching matches that went into extra time and then to penalty kicks. All that TV watching is prime knitting time, but I couldn’t work on anything I had to look at because a match can change in a second. No time outs, no dead time. No time for counting stitches or checking a chart. THE U.S. IS PLAYING PORTUGAL! WHAT DO I KNIT???
To maximize this knitting time without missing ANYTHING and without eschewing the beer drinking that accompanies game watching, I knit this shawl–back and forth in garter stitch, with markers indicating when to work yarn over increases. Aside from a garter stitch square (looking for that? Check out the Albers Shawl, which I knit in similar circumstances) or a Stockinette stitch tube, this is the easiest thing you can knit. And the Freia ombre colors will motivate you to knit just a few more rows to see how they develop with the semisolid Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio Sock.
So cast on and work the first few rows, and you’re off! If what you’re doing or watching is gripping enough, you’ll have an impressively large shawl in no time!
Supplies
1 skein (400 yds.) Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sock (I used Dupont Circle) for A
2 skeins (430 yds. total; 215 yards in each skein) Freia Handpaints Ombre Fingering Petite (you can use two skeins of the same color or one skein each of two different colors; I used Flame Ombre and Lichen Ombre) for B (and C, if you use two different colors)
US Size 8 (5.0mm) circular needle, at least 32 inches long
4 stitch markers
Tapestry needle for weaving in ends
Gauge
18 sts and 36 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch
Finished Measurements
Approximately 70 inches at widest point and 30 inches deep
Abbreviations
BO bind off
CO cast on
k knit
m marker
pm place marker
RS right side
sm slip marker
st(s) stitch(es)
WS wrong side
yo yarn over
Instructions
Using A, CO 2 sts.
Starting with a RS row, work 10 rows in garter st. Turn work 90 degrees clockwise; pick up and knit 5 sts along edge (1 st in each purl “bump” along the edge); turn work 90 degrees clockwise again and pick up 2 sts along original CO edge–9 sts.
Set Up Increase Pattern
Row 1 (WS): Using A, sl 1, k1, pm, k2, pm, k1, pm, k2, pm, k2.
Join B, but do not cut A.
Row 2 (RS): Using B, sl 1, k1, sm, yo, knit to m, yo, sm, k1, sm, yo, knit to m, yo, sm, k2–13 sts.
Row 3 (WS): Using B, sl 1, knit to end.
Row 4: Using A, work as Row 2–17 sts.
Row 5: Using A, sl 1, knit to end.
Repeat Rows 2-5 until you’re nearly out of B (by “nearly out,” I mean you should have a few yards left) after completing a Row 3. On next Row 2, join C (or the second skein of B, if you’re using two skeins of the same Freia color).
Using C in place of B, repeat Rows 2-5 until you’re nearly out of A (Studio Sock) after completing a Row 5. Work Row 2 using C once more, then BO loosely on Row 3.
Weave in ends. Wet block to measurements.
