The Elise Shawl

What better pattern to lead off this blog with than the Elise shawl, by Even Plevinski?  If you haven't made this one yet, it's going to become one of your favorite shawlette patterns.  The knit shops are full of beautiful lacey shawlettes right now, so I was very happy to find a pattern for crochet that has comparable delicacy and beauty.  Shawlettes are great for something small to throw over your shoulders, tying them loosely in the front like an expanded neckerchief.  Another great way is to wear them backwards, with the long point down the front and the ends criss-crossed around your neck and draped in the front to hold them in place - a beautiful cowl effect.  This one is lightweight and elegant - so far I have only made it in the size called for in the pattern, but there is no reason why you couldn't keep going and make yourself a full-sized shawl that will make you the envy of any party to which you wear it.

First the pattern - you can find this one for free on Ravelry:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/elise-shawl

You'll see from the pictures that it has very pointy edges; these are picots that are then enthusiastically blocked to make them stand out as far as possible.  This was my first project that I have actually blocked and it was so easy and made such a big difference that it may make me want to block everything I make.  I exaggerate of course, but it will be highly recommended for your lacier projects, it just looks beautiful.  To block this shawl I misted it pretty thoroughly, spread a towel across the bed, and then stretched out the shawl and pinned it to the bed and left it for a day or so (until it dried).  You don't have to be afraid of stretching it out, the more you do it, the better it will look.  If you want some more detail on blocking this particular shawl, there are some pictures of the blocking process that I ran across on the Crochet in Color blog: http://crochetincolor.blogspot.com/2012/01/two-new-favorite-go-to-patterns-for.html 

I have made 2 Elise shawls out of Malabrigo Sock yarn.  Let me take a moment to say I LOVE Malabrigo yarns and their beautiful colors.  So far I've only tried a couple of the different varieties but I'm hoping to work my way through all of them.  The sock yarn is a soft, light-weight yarn, 100% Superwash Merino, with a generous 440 yards per skein.  It is a joy to work with and works up very quickly in this pattern; if you dedicate a Saturday to this shawl you can probably finish it in one day.

For my shawls I used Malabrigo Sock Ravelry Red (611) and Malabrigo Sock Abril (853), both gorgeous colors as you'll see from the pictures.  I used an "I" hook to make them and ended up with shawls that are roughly 36"x18" after blocking.  These used a little over half of the skein of yarn, so if you want to use a sock yarn comes in a smaller yardage you have some wiggle room.  In the Ravelry Red I had about 46g (1.6oz) left out of the skein (originally 100g) and in the Abril I had about 45g (1.5oz) left over.

I had a little trouble seeing my stitches at the very beginning (first couple of rows) but there's also a stitch diagram on the Ravelry pattern that was very helpful.  After that, this was a very easy pattern.

Here are some pictures of my Elise shawls to inspire you to make your own!

Malabrigo Sock Abril:

Malabrigo Sock Ravelry Red: