At long last, here is the tutorial for a basic, top down triangle garter stitch shawl. I will show you two ways to knit your shawl, both are equally easy.
If you'd like to follow along, any yarn and appropriately sized needle will do. You'll also want a stitch marker to make keeping track of your center stitch easier.
The yarn I used for my little samples is Premier Hipster Cotton. I got this at my local Dollar Tree a few years ago, and am not sure if Premier still makes it. It is a #3 yarn (DK/light worsted) and the recommended needle size is US 6, so that is what I used.
I used DPNs in the video since I only made tiny shawls. For regular sized shawls, you'll want to use circular needles*. Circulars come in various lengths, up to 60 inches. I recommend at least a 32 inch circular; the heavier (thicker) your yarn is, the longer the needle you'll want to use, otherwise things are going to be all bunched up, and in my opinion, difficult to move along the needle, not to mention more prone to dropping off. Of course you can always use point protectors to keep your stitches safe when you put your work down; I find that when I have a lot of stitches bunched up on a too short needle, sometimes a few will slip off while I am actually knitting. Point protectors don't help in that case. *If you are using a very fine lace weight yarn, you can get a decent sized shawl using very long straight needles.
There are of course other ways to go about making a top down shawl - the two methods here are just the basics to get you started if you've never made a top down shawl before. That said, even if you are an experienced knitter, sometimes you just want a simple project to work on while you binge your favorite show or listen to an audio book, and don't want to have to bother keeping track of too much detail. A top down garter stitch shawl fits the bill.
You'll want to bind off loosely so the edge has enough stretch for blocking. There are a lot of stretchy bind offs, choose whichever you prefer. I show the k2tog tbl bind off (aka decrease bind off, aka several other names) in the video.
I only knit about ten rows for the mini shawls in the video; if you are making a mini practice shawl, you can stop there and bind off. If you happen to like how your mini shawl looks, by all means continue on until it is as big as you want.
A word about gauge - yes, it is important if you're knitting something that you want to fit correctly like socks and sweaters. It isn't quite so important for shawls. You certainly can make a gauge swatch if you want to, especially if you want to make sure you end up with a shawl of a certain size. I personally never make a gauge swatch when I am making my own shawls.
Before we get started, I want to share a tip - while it is quite easy to distinguish between the increase rows and plain knit rows, attaching a stitch marker to one side or the other is an easy way to keep track of which side you're working on.
Abbreviations:
k = knit
yo = yarn over
pm = place marker
sm = slip marker
kfb = knit into the front and back of the next stitch
The first shawl uses the yarn over increase.
Cast on 3 stitches
Row 1: k1, yo, pm, k1, yo, k1
Row 2: knit
Row 3: k1, yo, knit to marker, yo, sm, k1, yo, knit to last stitch, yo, k1
Repeat Rows 2 and 3 to desired length, bind off, weave in your ends and block.
The second shawl begins the same way as the first, then uses the knit front/back increase.
Cast on 3 stitches
Row 1: k1, yo, pm, k1, yo, k1
Row 2: knit
Row 3: k1, yo, knit to marker, yo, sm, k1, yo, knit to last stitch, yo, k1
Row 4: knit
Row 5: k1, yo, knit to 1 stitch before marker, kfb, sm, k1, kfb, knit to last stitch, yo, k1
Row 6: knit
Repeat Rows 5 and 6 to desired length, bind off, weave in your ends and block.
Enjoy your new shawl!
