Knit Your First Shawl — It’s a Piece of Cake

There have been many great innovations in the knitting and fiber arts world in the more than 20 (!) years that I’ve been writing about these subjects online. Different fibers and materials and styles of knitting needles and new tools have made knitting more fun and given us plenty to put on our holiday wish lists.

One of my favorite things to come out of the yarn world in recent history is cake yarns. These colorful cakes feature an array of colors (or tones of the same color), which makes it easy to make a project using a single ball that looks more complicated than it is.

And when you combine a cake yarn with a simple design, it’s a big win. Beginners can make projects that automatically look more complicated just because they’re not a solid color, even though it’s no more work on the knitter’s part.

An example of this is the Piece of Cake Shawl from Maria Wellmert. It’s a triangular garter stitch shawl with a slip stitch edging that’s super simple to knit. The hardest part might be remembering to pay attention to how much yarn you’ve used so you can start decreasing when you need to so you don’t run out of yarn before the end of the project.

If you’ve been a reader here for very long you might sense that I’m going to suggest this might be a great stash busting project, too. You can use up a bunch of odd balls and make a wild colored shawl, or pick all the leftovers of a particular color that you have to make a more harmonious design. Or anywhere in between.

If you’re using smaller balls of yarn you might want to make a magic ball before you get started so you don’t have to think about changing yarn as you knit. It’s almost like having a DIY cake of yarn!

You can get the free pattern for the shawl on Ravelry.

[Photo: Maria Wellmert]

Free Knitting Pattern Zig Zag Shawl

One Skein Sock Yarn Shawl Knitting Patterns

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I used to always teach people how to knit by giving them bulky yarn, teach the knit cast on and have them knit a scarf (like this garter stitch scarf). That’s still a great first project, but I acknowledge people might get bored knitting all that garter stitch before they can say they’ve finished their first knitting project. Plus they might not want to wear something that comes out a little wonky, as first knitting projects often do.

These days I’m more likely to recommend a garter stitch washcloth to a new knitter.

Washcloths are usually made with medium weight cotton yarn, which is one of the easiest yarns to find at big box stores and craft stores, and it’s usually inexpensive and comes in lots of fun colors. You only need one ball of yarn and one pair of needles to make one, so there’s not a lot of outlay in terms of supplies.

Everyone can use washcloths, and even if you drop stitches, add stitches, have weird tension issues or all of the above, it will still work as a washcloth. And you can keep that first thing you made to see how much progress you make in just a couple of projects.

And if you still want more garter stitch when it’s done, you can move on to a scarf (or even a sampler scarf if you want to try some new stitches).

That post linked above is a great one for a brand new knitter or someone who just needs a refresher, because it walks you through everything you need to know how to do to make it. There’s also a full video tutorial for people who would rather see moving images rather than still pictures.

What was the first thing you made when you learned to knit? Or if you’ve taught someone to knit, what first project did you give them? I’d love to hear about it!

Easy Washcloth Knitting Patterns

Knit a Sweet Ducky Washcloth

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