The Shire Shawl - Free Pattern

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 I designed this shawl for a friend who's been dealing with health issues lately, and I did so while listening to the audio version of Lord of the Rings, read by Robert Inglis. (He is amazing - reads with great voices and even sings throughout. Listen to it.) When I began the project, I had no idea where it was going - I had just picked the color based on what I thought the friend would like. But as the opening pages of the book rolled by, it became clear that this shawl was the embodiment of the Shire.

It only took me about a week of working on it every evening to finish. Using a double strand of yarn and a size N hook really moved the project along. This shawl is adjustable, too. I'm very fond of how the project turned out. The shawl is six feet long, heavy, and utterly comforting to wrap up in.

Piggy likes it, too.

The Shire Shawl

Materials
6 skeins Berroco Comfort in color Maine Woods (9839)
Size N crochet hook

Main Body
Ch 51 sts. 1 DC in third chain from hook, 1 DC in next, (2 DC tog over next 2 ch) twice, 1 DC in next ch, 2 DC in next, *2 DC in next, (2 DC tog over next 2 ch) twice, 1 DC in next, 2 DC in next, repeat from * to end, turn. Work pattern for 11 rows. (This is a chevron pattern.)

End Fans
After 11 rows are completed, turn the work so that the side on which you ended the row becomes the foundation row for the end segment. Ch 35 down the side. (2 DC, 1 CH, 2 DC) in 5th ch from hook, *skip 3 ch, (2 DC, 1 CH, 2 DC) in 1 ch, repeat from * to last 2 ch, skip 1 ch, 1 DC in last ch, turn.

For each pattern row after the first: ch 3, skip first 3 DC, *(2 DC, 1 CH, 2 DC) in 1 ch space, skip next 4 DC, repeat from * until last 3 ch, skip 2 ch, 1 DC in last ch, turn. Work this for 15 rows, so that there are 16 rows of this pattern total. To make the shawl longer, simply add more rows.

I made these flower and leaf pins as embellishments that can be removed when the shawl needs washing. They're pretty simple, but they're for another post.