Top Down Garter Stitch Shawls - Triangle

 

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!

Garter Tab Cast On

The Garter Tab Cast On is how I start all of my top down shawls; I love this cast on!  I didn't love it at first though.  In fact, I didn't like it and stayed away from it.  Why?  Because it seemed hard and confusing, and I really didn't understand what in the world it was for.

This way of thinking is of course, silly.  Nothing is hard once you learn to do it.  In order to learn, you must do.  And it's just yarn - if you don't get it the first time (and you probably won't), try again and again until you get it.

One day I tried it and discovered it was sooo easy and I love it!  There really isn't anything hard about it.  You cast on a few stitches, pick up and knit a few more stitches, and there you have a garter tab cast on.

The main reason I  wanted to master the garter tab cast on is because I really wanted to knit a top down shawl.  I couldn't quite wrap my mind around how you could knit a triangle shawl starting from the top, instead of from the bottom point.  I wanted to know!  The only way I knew to start a top down shawl was with the garter tab cast on.  I know now it isn't necessary to use a garter tab, but it is my preferred method.  And by the way, top down shawls aren't hard to knit either.  They are just as easy to knit as a bottom up triangle shawl.

Before we begin, I will say that this is only one way to do a garter tab cast on.  Some knitters prefer to do a provisional cast on, and then when ready to pick up along the cast on edge, remove the waste yarn and pick up the live stitches.  Too much muss, fuss, and fiddle for me.  This tab is such a small part of the knitting, nobody is even going to notice.  If you'd like to see the provisional cast on method, just do a search and you will get plenty of results.

For the garter tab cast on, I normally start with four stitches, because I have this thing about even numbers, but often you will see patterns call for you to start with three stitches and knit six rows.  In addition to my 'thing' for even numbers, I think four is just easier to work with than three.  So for our purposes here, we will use four.

Cast on four stitches.
Knit eight rows.
After last row, do not turn work over.  Instead, keeping the same side of the work facing you, turn the tab 90 degrees clockwise so that the left side of the tab is now facing up - you will pick up and knit four stitches along the side.
Now, turn the tab again so that the cast on edge is facing up; you will pick up and knit four more stitches along the cast on edge.

You should have a total of twelve stitches and are ready to begin.

This is just an example; always cast on/knit/pick up the number of stitches your pattern directs.  Even if you are working with a different number, the method is the same.

Once you have the required number of stitches on your needles, continue on with your pattern.  I usually knit a plain row before beginning the increases - that is just how I do it.  You can do whatever you feel works best for you.

Since this technique is/can be confusing in writing, of course I have a video to show you how it is done.

Here you go, and Happy Knitting!