Easy triangle shawl for beginners (free pattern!)

So you are new to knitting, and want to make your first shawl? Say no more! With this super easy knitting pattern you will make your first triangle shawl in no time at all (ok, so the time depends on the size of your shawl, obviously and how much real life gets between you and your knitting needles …). Follow the simple steps in this guideline and learn all the techniques you’ll need to make your shawl.

This pattern works for any kind of yarn, as long as you make sure to use the fitting needle size. For this specific shawl, I used two different yarns which I worked together, Kremke Alpaca Bouclé and Baby Alpaca Lace, which is a wonderfully soft combination. Both yarns have a great yardage, so you will not need that many skeins. For example, for this size of 150 x 90 cm / 60 x 35″ I used one skein of Baby Alpaca Lace and two skeins of Alpaca Bouclé on 3.5 mm / US 4 needles.

What techniques do you need?

For this shawl, you will need to know following techniques :

  • casting on stitches
  • knits and purls
  • kfbf = knit into the front, back and front of the same loop (no worries, I’ll show you)
  • M1L = “make one left” : this is a left-leaning increase made by picking up the link between two stitches with the left needle, then knitting it through the back loop (I’ll show you this one too).
  • casting off

Et voilà : you know everything you need for this triangle shawl, that you can use for a gazillion of yarn options. The increase rate of this particular pattern is on the end of each RS row, but you can adapt that and play around to your liking, for example, increasing on every second RS row. You’re the boss!

Triangle shawl knitting pattern

CO 1 st. Turn.
Row 1: kfbf (3 sts).
Row 2: p3
Row 3: k2, M1L, k1 (4 sts).
Row 4: p to end.
Row 5: k to last st, M1L, PM, k1 (5 sts).
Row 6: p to end.
Repeat rows 5 and 6 until the shawl has reached the desired length, or until you run out of yarn

Abbreviations :

CO : cast on

k : knit

p: purl

sts : stitches

PM: place marker

SM: slip marker

kfbf: knit into the front, back and front of the same loop

M1L: make one left

Knitting techniques : a step-by-step guide

kfbf : knit into the front, back and front of the same loop

This is an increase that is worked by knitting several times into the same stitch. Knit into the front of the next stitch, but keep the loop on the left needle. Then knit into the same stitch again, but this time into the back of the loop, still without slipping it off the needle. Now knit a third time into the same loop, through the front of the stitch, then slip it off the needle. You have now gone from one to three stitches, so you have increased two stitches.

M1L : make one left

This is an increase that leans to the left. With your left needle, pick up the strand between the stitch on your right needle and the following stitch on the left needle, from the front to the back. Now knit this loop you have created through the back of the loop.

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