Northern Lights

Northern Lights is a half-circle shawl, worked top-down and growing outward in a smooth curve. It looks far more complicated than it is, because the whole main body is nothing but double crochet. There are no tricky stitches to learn in the field, just steady, familiar rows that let your hands settle into a rhythm while the shawl grows.

The color gives it all that interest. You change colors as you work, and you do not have to cut them or carry them along, so the fabric stays clean on both sides and you finish with only a few ends to weave in. That single detail is what makes a plain double crochet shawl read as something intricate and alive.

The shawl ends with a lacy edging that uses up the last of the two colors and gives the whole curve a soft, finished border. Blocked, the shawl is 54 inches wide and 31 inches deep at the longest point, a generous half-circle that settles easily around the shoulders and drapes without sliding off.

Yarn: 900 yards / 823m of fingering weight yarn in two colors, 450 yards / 412m of each.

The sample uses Polka Dot Sheep Fine Yarns Tenderfoot (80% superwash merino, 20% nylon, 3.5 oz / 100g = 400 yards / 366m) in (A) Aurora and (B) Cornflower.

Hook: US size E/4 (3.5 mm), or the size needed for gauge. Make sure you take the time to check it before you start.

Notions: Tapestry needle.

Gauge: 18 dc and 8 dc rows = 4 inches / 10 cm. Check your gauge before you begin. On a shawl this size, a small difference in gauge changes both the finished span and how much of your yarn you use.

Finished Size: Blocked, the shawl is 54 inches / 137 cm wide and 31 inches / 78.5 cm deep at the longest point. Blocking opens the lace edging and sets the half-circle shape, so plan for it.