May 2026 – Shawl Shapes

Description

Friday, May 8, 2026
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific
12:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern
Live on Google Meet

Design Shawls with Confidence

Have you ever wished you could make a shawl exactly the way you want it instead of simply following someone else’s pattern?

Maybe you have fallen in love with a stitch pattern and wanted to know how to turn it into a shawl. Maybe you have wondered why some shawls drape beautifully while others do not. Or maybe you are ready to understand the structure behind shawl design so you can stop guessing and start creating with confidence.

Here is the good news: shawl construction is far more approachable than it seems.

Once you understand the formulas behind the most common shapes, you can create custom shawls, adjust sizing, and choose stitch patterns that suit your vision.

What This Class Is About

Shawl Shapes is a workshop designed to help you understand how shawls are built so you can make smart design decisions with clarity.

In this class, you will learn the math behind three popular top down shawl shapes. We will also talk about how bottom up construction differs and when you might choose one method over the other. Along the way, you will learn how to calculate increases, work with stitch patterns without distorting the shape, and adapt the basic formulas to create your own variations.

By the end of class, you will leave with a complete reference guide of formulas and the confidence to design your own shawls from concept to completion.

What You Will Learn

In this live 3 hour Google Meet workshop, we will cover:

• The math behind three popular top down shawl shapes
• How bottom up construction works and when to use it
• How to calculate increases for clean shaping
• How to incorporate stitch patterns without throwing off the structure
• How to adapt foundational shawl formulas into your own custom designs
• How to think about shawl design with more confidence and control

This is a class that gives you both the why and the how, so you can move beyond following instructions and begin understanding construction for yourself.

Why This Class Works

When you understand shawl construction, you are no longer limited to making only what is written on the page.

You can look at a stitch pattern and begin to imagine how it would work in a triangle, crescent, or other top down shape. You can decide whether a bottom up approach makes more sense for the fabric you want. You can make adjustments that fit your yarn, your gauge, and your personal style.

That kind of understanding changes everything.

Instead of feeling boxed in by patterns, you begin to see design possibilities.

Who This Class Is For

This class is perfect for crocheters who:

• Want to understand how shawls are constructed
• Would like to create custom shawls using their favorite stitch patterns
• Are ready to feel more confident with shaping and increases
• Want to better understand gauge, drape, and how they affect the finished piece
• Enjoy both the technical and creative side of crochet

The class is appropriate for advanced beginners and beyond. Students should know the 6 basic stitches and understand the concept of increasing and decreasing.

What to Bring

Please bring:

• 200 to 300 yards of lace, fingering, sport, or DK weight yarn
• The same hook size you used for your homework swatch
• Stitch markers
• Scissors
• Pen or pencil
• Tape measure or another way to measure gauge
• Homework

HOMEWORK: Before class, please make a 6 inch double crochet swatch using the same yarn you plan to use in class and the gauge and drape you like for a shawl. This will help you get more out of the workshop and make the math and shaping decisions far more useful in real time.