Urban Stripe, a Striped Crochet Shawl Pattern

The Easiest Striped Crochet Shawl

This is one of my earliest designs from 2017, a striped crochet shawl that I put together after visiting my first ever yarn festival. I made two versions, one from with yarn I purchased at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival (EYF) and one I made at the request of my bestest friend.

This is a fabulous beginner project for new crocheters too. The shawl is crocheted sideways from one point to the other. Simple increases build to the centre of the shawl and then decreases work their way back to the other end.

I absolutely love this shawl! The colours speak for themselves, I didn’t want fancy stitches overshadowing their awesomeness. The simple striped stitch pattern means that this is a super relaxing project too. The results are contemporary and sophisticated.

Scroll down to grab the free pattern, or you can buy a PDF version in my Raverly shop and it is also available in my Etsy shop if you prefer. And whilst you’re here, don’t pass up the opportunity to peruse my other free crochet patterns too!

Using Tonal Yarn in Crochet

The yarn I bought from EYF 2017 was three skeins of sport weight merino from Dandelion Yarns (320m/350 yards approx per 100g). I think it was called Rosy Sport. It was probably one of my first proper splurges on indie dyed yarn. I remember my sister being shocked that I was willing to buy three skeins of yarn without a crochet pattern in mind!

The tonal quality of the hand dyed yarn works beautifully in this triangle shawl design. I think it’s semi tonal yarn, it could be more of a semi solid. I understand the difference is quite subtle but I always forget exactly what it is, oops! Either way, the subtle changes in tint work well for a shawl using UK treble/US double stitches. You can see the different tones but it’s not overwhelming the simplicity of the design. I reckon that anything more than a speckled yarn you’d get a lot of colour pooling.

All of that to say, I was very much drawn to the delicate tone changes in the skein. It works very well in crochet. However, if you’re a fan of more variegated yarns, you could use them for the contrast stripes for a not so busy pattern.

Using Other Yarns

A plain striped crochet shawl also works wonders with solid or marled colours too. For the orange and grey shawl, I used Drops cotton merino, which is a DK (50g/110m). If I remember rightly, I think some shades had a slight marl to them (one of the greys, for sure). I chose that yarn as I was given the brief by my bestie for something that wouldn’t itch but was warm. A cotton/merino blend was spot on for this request. However, I needed more of the main colour than I originally assumed; it didn’t go as far because DK is a heavier weight of yarn than sport.

This shawl design is versatile, you can use all sorts of alternative yarns. It would work just as well in an acrylic. However, please bear in mind that using other yarns could have an impact on drape and size. Of the two shawls I made, one was a sport weight yarn and the other a DK. Because DK is a heavier weight, the shawl is larger. And remember that if using different weight yarn, use the appropriate size of crochet hook.

If you’d like to know more about the kind of yarn to use in your crochet projects, check out my blog post about Yarn Substitution HERE.

How Much Yarn Do You Need For A Striped Crochet Shawl?

I used three skeins of Dandelion Yarns Rosy Sport to make the blue, grey and neon triangular shawl and it measures approximately 237xm (93.5inches) in length and 49cm (19 inches) at its widest.

Whilst gauge isn’t critical for this project it will affect how much yarn you need. Most of one skein is needed for the main colour (grey, in this case) but you’ll only need approx 70gr each of the other two colours. (I’d say my tension is average to loose).

For the orange Urban Stripe shawl I used 100g each of the two contrast colours and needed 150g for the middle colour. At the time I think I thought 100g would be enough of the main colour but got half way through, panicked and bought 1 ball more!

I used a 4mm hook for both crochet shawls.

Placing the Contrast Colours

These simple crochet stripes work well in the Drops cotton merino and it works well having tweaked the colour layout too. Unlike the original pattern, I kept all of Yarn A to one side and all of Yarn C to the other. When wrapped around the neck, you get to see both contrasting shades at either side. I clearly didn’t give this much thought until after I’d finished the first one. When designing a crochet shawl pattern, think about how it will be used by the wearer! I realised that keeping the contrast colours to their own sides was a better idea because the shawl has been worn as a scarf (check out the first photo in this blog post to see how those colours show both sides when wrapped around).

Striped Shawl Pattern

• The pattern is written in UK terms but it only uses 1 stitch, the US double crochet!
• You will need some yarn and a crochet hook that suits that weight of yarn. Please see above for details about yarn quantities. For both of my shawls, I used a 4mm hook.
• This second version turned out slightly larger than the first blue/grey/neon shawl (approx 15cm longer and 4cm deeper).
• The 3 chain at the beginning of rows counts as a stitch. You can swap this out for a different method if you prefer. I’d be tempted to these days. Check out my video tutorial on alternatives to a chain 3 HERE.
• For decrease rows the 2 chain counts as part of tr2tog so don’t work into it. 
• If you have leftover yarn, tassels would be a great addition!

Stitch Abbreviations:
ch chain, st(s) stitch(es), tr treble (US dc),
tr2tog 2 trebles together (US dc2tog), yrh yarn round hook.

Tension of the sport weight (blue/neon) shawl:
Work the first 16 rows of the pattern. Triangle measures 9cm x 19cm x 21cm (3.75 x 7.5 x 8 inches)

Special Stitches
tr2tog ( same as a US dc2tog):
Yrh, insert hook into first st, yrh & pull through (3 loops on hook), yrh, pull through 2 loops, yrh, insert into next st, yrh (4 loops on hook), yrh, pull through 2 loops (3 loops on hook), yrh, pull through last 3 loops.

Pattern 

(Use in conjunction with the listed colour order of stripes, below)
Row 1: Ch4, 1tr in 4th ch from hook, turn.
Row 2: Ch3, 1tr in same st, 1tr in next st, turn.
Row 3: Ch3, 1tr in next st, 2tr in last st, turn.
Row 4: Ch3, 1tr in same st, 1tr along to end, turn.
Row 5: Ch3, 1tr along, 2tr in last st, turn.
Repeat rows 4&5 until you have 83 rows.
Row 84: Ch2, 1 tr along to end, turn.
Row 85: Ch3, 1 tr along to last 2 sts, tr2tog over last two st.
Repeat rows 84 & 85 to end. 
Fasten off and sew in ends!

Colour Order of Stripes

Note: If you’d like some of each contrast colour to show at either side of your neck as you wear the striped shawl wrapped around like a scarf, keep contrast color A for all stripes on the increases and use contrast colour b when working the stripes during the decrease rows.

Blue (main colour): 54 rows.
Grey (contrast colour A): 2 rows. Neon (contrast colour B): 2 rows. Grey: 8 rows.
Neon: 2 rows. Grey: 2 rows. Neon rows: 2. Grey rows: 2. Neon rows: 2.
Grey: 14 rows. (= 7 rows of increases and 7 rows of decreases).
Decreases: Blue: 2. Grey: 2. Blue: 2. Grey: 2. Blue: 2. Grey: 8. Blue: 2. Grey: 2. Neon: 54

Blocking Your Crochet Shawl

Soak the shawl in lukewarm water and a splash of wool wash soap until thoroughly wet. Rinse and gently squeeze out most of the water then, remove excess water by rolling (gently smooshing) it in a towel. Pin out onto blocking boards and leave to dry. If you’ve made you shawl with acrylic yarn, give it a light steam block to provide a touch of even drape. Don’t be too aggressive as you can melt the acrylic very easily!