How to Knit an Easy Shawl for Beginners | Step by Step Video Tutorial — Ashley Lillis

If you’ve been thinking about knitting your first shawl, you’ve come to the right place. Shawls are one of those projects that feel ambitious but are actually very approachable for beginners — especially when you choose the right pattern and take things one step at a time. In this tutorial, I’m going to walk you through everything you need to know to knit a beautiful, cozy shawl from your very first cast-on stitch all the way to your finished, blocked piece. Whether you’ve only ever knit a swatch or you’ve completed a few simple scarves, this project is the perfect next step in your knitting journey.

Let’s dive in.

Why Knit a Shawl?

Before we get into the how, let’s talk about the why. Shawls are genuinely one of the most satisfying things you can knit. Unlike a sweater, you don’t have to worry about fit. Unlike socks, there’s no fiddly heel turning. A shawl is forgiving, flexible, and endlessly customizable, which makes it ideal for beginners who want something beautiful to show off at the end of a project.

Shawls are also incredibly versatile in real life. You can wear them draped over your shoulders as a wrap on a cool evening, fold them into a neck scarf, or pin them at the front for a more structured look. If you knit with a luxurious yarn — and I’ll give you some recommendations below — even a simple garter stitch shawl can look like it came from a boutique.

Another reason shawls are beginner-friendly: most simple shawl patterns use only two stitches. Knit and purl. That’s really it. And the one we’re doing today uses mostly garter stitch, which means you’ll knit every single row. No purling required.

What You’ll Need

Before you cast on, gather your supplies. Having everything ready before you start makes the whole process smoother and more enjoyable.

Yarn: For this beginner shawl, I recommend a worsted weight or bulky yarn in a solid or semi-solid color. Variegated yarns can be beautiful, but they can also make it harder to see your stitches clearly, which isn’t ideal when you’re just learning. A smooth, light-colored yarn is your best friend as a beginner because every stitch is easy to see and count. Some great options are Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool, Malabrigo Rios, or Cascade 220. If you want something budget-friendly, Paintbox Simply DK or Lion Brand Basic Stitch are both excellent.

You’ll need approximately 400 to 600 yards of yarn depending on how large you want your finished shawl to be. For a medium-sized shawl that’s generous enough to wrap around your shoulders, aim for 500 yards.

Needles: For a worsted weight yarn, US size 7 or 8 (4.5 to 5mm) needles are a good starting point. I personally love using circular needles even for flat projects like this shawl, because the cable holds the weight of the growing fabric while you knit. You don’t need interchangeable needles — a fixed circular in a 32-inch or 40-inch length works beautifully.

Additional supplies: You’ll need a tapestry needle for weaving in your ends, stitch markers (at least two), scissors, and a measuring tape. A blocking mat and rust-proof pins will come in handy at the end, but we’ll talk more about that in the finishing section.

Understanding the Shawl Structure

This shawl is worked from the top center down, which is one of the most popular construction methods for beginner shawls. Here’s why it’s so great: you start with just a few stitches at the top and increase outward, so the fabric grows in a triangular shape naturally. You can stop whenever your shawl is as big as you want it to be — there’s no math required to figure out if you have enough yarn. Just keep knitting until you’re happy with the size or until you’re running low on yarn.

The shape we’re going for is a classic triangle shawl, also called a top-down triangle. It has a straight top edge, two diagonal side edges, and a long, curved bottom edge. The increases are worked on each side of a center spine stitch, so the triangle stays symmetrical as it grows.

Here’s the basic construction breakdown: you’ll cast on a small number of stitches, establish your spine stitch in the center, and then increase by two stitches every other row until your shawl reaches the desired depth.

Reading the Pattern

I know pattern abbreviations can look like a foreign language at first, so let’s decode them before we start.

K means knit. P means purl. YO means yarn over, which is how we’ll make our increase — it creates a small eyelet hole and adds a stitch at the same time. K2tog means knit two stitches together, which decreases your stitch count by one. PM means place marker, and SM means slip marker (slide it from one needle to the other without knitting it). RS is right side (the front of your work) and WS is wrong side (the back).

Don’t worry if some of these feel unfamiliar. I’m going to walk you through each step in plain language, and you’ll be surprised how quickly these abbreviations become second nature.

Casting On

We’ll start with a long-tail cast on, which creates a neat, stretchy edge — perfect for the top of a shawl.

To do a long-tail cast on, leave a tail of yarn about one inch per stitch you plan to cast on (so for 5 stitches, leave a tail of about 5 inches, plus a bit extra). Make a slip knot and place it on your needle. This counts as your first stitch.

Hold the needle in your right hand, with the working yarn (attached to the ball) over your index finger and the tail end over your thumb. Slide the tip of your needle under the loop on your thumb, grab the yarn on your index finger and pull it through the thumb loop, then drop the loop off your thumb and gently tug the tail to snug the stitch up. That’s one stitch. Repeat until you have all your stitches cast on.

For this shawl, cast on 5 stitches.

Setting Up the Shawl (Rows 1 and 2)

Row 1 (RS): Knit all 5 stitches across.

Row 2 (WS): K2, place marker, K1, place marker, K2.

The single stitch between your two markers is your center spine stitch. All of your increases will happen on either side of this stitch. Take a moment to get comfortable with the markers before moving on — slipping them as you pass them will become automatic very quickly.

The Increase Rows

Now comes the main pattern. This is what you’ll repeat over and over until your shawl reaches the size you want.

Increase Row (RS): K2, YO, knit to marker, SM, YO, K1 (center spine stitch), YO, SM, knit to last 2 stitches, YO, K2.

Non-increase Row (WS): Knit across all stitches.

That’s it. Two rows, over and over. The increase row adds 4 stitches every time you work it (one YO on each side of each marker). The non-increase row is just a plain knit row. Because you’re working in garter stitch — knitting every row — both sides of your fabric will look the same, with that lovely ridged texture that garter stitch creates.

After about 10 increase rows, you should start to see that triangle shape forming. The center spine creates a subtle ridge that runs straight down the middle of your shawl, and the yarn-overs create two lines of small eyelets that frame it on each side. It’s simple and elegant.

Tips for Keeping Your Tension Consistent

Tension — how tightly or loosely you hold your yarn as you knit — affects the size and look of your finished fabric. For a shawl, even tension isn’t as critical as it would be for a fitted garment, but it still matters.

Here are a few things that help. First, try to relax your grip on the yarn. Many beginners hold their working yarn too tightly, which makes the stitches stiff and hard to slide along the needle. Let the yarn flow through your fingers naturally.

Second, knit a swatch before you start the actual shawl. A swatch is just a small practice square — cast on 20 stitches, knit for 20 rows, bind off, and wash and block it. Measure your gauge against the pattern’s suggested gauge. For this project, gauge isn’t critical because there’s no size to match, but swatching helps you get a feel for the yarn and needles before committing to the full project.

Third, if you notice one row is noticeably tighter or looser than the others, don’t panic. You can gently even things out during blocking. Speaking of which — blocking is going to become your best friend.

How Many Rows Should You Knit?

This is one of the most common beginner questions, and the answer is wonderfully flexible: knit until your shawl is as big as you want it to be, or until you have about 10 to 15 yards of yarn left for binding off.

As a general guide, a mini shawlette might take 30 to 40 increase rows and use around 200 yards of yarn. A medium shawl that wraps comfortably around your shoulders will take 60 to 80 increase rows and use 400 to 500 yards. A large, dramatic shawl might take 100 or more increase rows.

If you want to track your progress, count the garter ridges along one of the side edges. Each ridge represents two rows — one increase row and one plain row. This is an easy way to keep track without counting every stitch.

The Bind Off

When your shawl has reached the size you want, it’s time to bind off. For shawls, I strongly recommend a stretchy bind off. A regular bind off can make the edge feel tight and pull the shawl out of shape.

One of the easiest stretchy bind offs is simply this: when you’re about to do your final row, switch to a needle one or two sizes larger. Work a standard bind off (knit two stitches, pass the first stitch over the second, knit one more, pass the first over again, repeat) but with the larger needle. The larger needle automatically creates more slack in each stitch, so your bind-off edge stays relaxed and stretchy.

Another option is the YO bind off: knit a stitch, yarn over, then pass both the knit stitch and the yarn over over your needle at once. Repeat across. This takes a little practice but creates an incredibly stretchy, decorative edge.

Work your bind off loosely and evenly. When you reach the last stitch, cut your yarn leaving about a 6-inch tail, pull the tail through the last loop, and gently tug to secure it.

Weaving In Your Ends

You’ll have two ends to weave in: the cast-on tail and the bind-off tail. Using your tapestry needle, thread one end and weave it through the nearby stitches on the wrong side of your work, going in one direction for a few inches, then doubling back in the opposite direction to anchor it. Trim the excess yarn close to the fabric. Repeat for the second end.

If you’ve joined a new ball of yarn during your project, you’ll have ends from that join to weave in as well. The same technique applies. Just make sure all your ends are securely woven in before you move on to blocking, because blocking will help set everything and you don’t want loose ends popping out later.

Blocking Your Shawl

Blocking is the step that transforms your finished knitting from “I made this” to “where did you buy that?” It’s genuinely magical, especially for shawls.

To block your shawl, fill a clean sink or basin with cool water and a drop of gentle wool wash or baby shampoo. Submerge your shawl and gently press the water through — don’t wring or agitate it, which can felt the fibers. Let it soak for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Lift the shawl out of the water and gently squeeze (don’t wring) to remove excess water. Lay it flat on a clean towel, roll the towel up with the shawl inside, and press down to absorb more water. Then unroll the towel and transfer your shawl to a blocking mat.

Lay the shawl flat and shape it into a triangle. Use rust-proof pins to pin out each corner and along the edges, stretching the shawl to open up the stitches and even out the fabric. Pay special attention to the bind-off edge — this is where you’ll see the most dramatic difference after blocking.

Let it dry completely before unpinning. Depending on your yarn and the humidity in your space, this can take anywhere from several hours to overnight.

Once it’s dry and unpinned, pick it up and admire your work. The stitches will be even and clear, the eyelets will be open and beautiful, and the whole shawl will have a soft, draped quality that it didn’t have off the needles.

Customizing Your Shawl

One of the best things about this pattern is how easy it is to make it your own. Here are a few simple ways to add personality to your shawl without complicating the pattern.

You can add a simple lace edging on the last 10 rows by working a basic eyelet pattern on the increase rows — alternating YO and K2tog across the row for a row or two before your final bind-off.

You can work stripes by switching colors every two rows (at the beginning of a right-side row). Because garter stitch hides the color changes so neatly, your stripes will look crisp and clean.

You can also experiment with yarn weight. Using a DK weight yarn on slightly smaller needles will give you a more refined, drapey fabric. Using a chunky yarn on bigger needles will give you a cozy, thick fabric that works up incredibly fast.

And of course, the yarn itself is a huge part of the finished look. A hand-dyed, single-skein yarn can produce stunning color gradients that make even the simplest pattern look complex and artful. Yarn from indie dyers on Etsy and at local fiber festivals is often available in 400 to 600-yard skeins that are perfect for this project.

Troubleshooting Common Beginner Mistakes

Even the most careful knitters run into issues. Here are the most common ones I see beginners encounter with this shawl, and how to fix them.

Accidental extra stitches: If your stitch count keeps going up unexpectedly, you may be accidentally creating extra yarn overs by wrapping your yarn the wrong way, or knitting into both legs of a stitch. Count your stitches at the end of every increase row to catch this early.

Dropped stitches: If a stitch slips off your needle, don’t panic. Use your crochet hook or the tip of your needle to pick it back up through the loop below it. In garter stitch, this is a little trickier than in stockinette — you may need to look up a quick video tutorial on picking up dropped garter stitches.

Uneven edges: Garter stitch edges can sometimes look loose or sloppy. To tighten them up, slip the first stitch of every row purlwise without knitting it. This creates a neater, chained edge that looks much more polished.

Tension too tight or too loose: If your fabric feels stiff and hard, go up a needle size. If it feels loose and floppy, go down a needle size. Needle size has a big impact on the drape and feel of your finished shawl.

Caring for Your Finished Shawl

Once your shawl is finished and blocked, you’ll want to keep it looking beautiful for years. If you used a wool or wool-blend yarn, hand wash it gently using the same process as blocking — cool water, gentle soap, no wringing. Lay it flat to dry.

If your yarn is machine washable (many superwash wools and acrylic-blend yarns are), you can toss it in the washing machine on a gentle, cold cycle, then lay it flat to dry. Avoid putting wool in the dryer, which can cause it to felt and shrink.

Store your shawl folded in a drawer or on a shelf, ideally in a breathable cotton bag if you’re concerned about moths. Cedar blocks or lavender sachets in the storage area can help deter pests without the harsh