Shawl Styling Tips:
Tied:
One of the easiest ways to wear a shawl is to drape it over your shoulders and tie the front corners in a beautiful knot. Take the time to play with how you knot your ends. The possibilities are endless. You can leave the knot in the center, or bring it to one side for a more trendy appeal.
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Wanderlust Lace Shawl | Sparkleberry Shawl | 8 Hour Lace Shawl |
Draped:
Draping the shawl around the shoulders or arms is the easiest way to wear a shawl. It’s casual and the perfect way to keep the chill off, whether you are walking along the beach or sitting in the office.
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Marigold Lace Shawl | Diamonds Sparkle Wrap | Texture Stitch Wrap |
Faux Cowl / Kerchief style:
This is the perfect style to try with those smaller knit triangle shawls and long skinny wraps. Simply bring the corners together around your neck and tuck away the ends. Whether you choose to wear it asymmetrically or not is the only question. You can also experiment with wrapping the ends around the shawl to create a style more like a skinnier scarf around your neck.
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Southern Sky Easy Knit Shawl | Grand Canyon Sunset Shawl | Easy Striped Kerchief Shawl |
Pinned (front, shoulder, asymmetrical):
There are countless ways to pin a shawl. I love shawl pin shopping, but some of my favorite pins are actually just the random DPNs I always have sitting around. If you have some old brooches around the house, these work great as well. Whether you pin directly in the center, off to one shoulder or slightly asymmetrically, using a shawl pin is a beautifully stylish to keep your shawl in place.
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Santa Fe Wrap | Shimmering Rose Shawl | Paint Palette Shawl |
Tell us! How do you wear your knit shawls?
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Pretty patterns
Great ideas here! I hate when I’ve made an interesting craft but run out of ideas for what to do with it, and this is a great guide. Alternatively, if you knitted a large shawl, you could drape it over your shoulders and belt it at the waist with a skinny belt for a more modern look. You could even use the shawl at the beach and wrap it around your hips as a cute sarong or cover up.
I purchased an alpaca wool wrap in Chile. It cam with a very handy leather shawl clasp which was basically a square of leather and a wooden stick which you thread between the folds and the square. Would love to see something like that available for sale. As a last resort I just bought a large pearl button about 3 in in diameter and made a chain loop for it, to use on a lacy shawl I just finished.
Good tips. I have a pet peeve with knit shawl patterns. At least half the patterns do not show a front view. Thanks for showing the front view in your article!
I love your site and eagerly search through to find my next project but it is implied that each pattern will be free.
When I choose a pattern and end at a site like particular raverly they come at a price. I don’t understand?
Can you explain why this is so. Thanks
Try limiting your search to “free knit.”. Even then a few designs with a price will show up, probably because ” free” shows up somewhere in the key words for the design. Good luck!
I agree with Carolyn! Shawl patterns should have a front view, too. Your article had a great variety of shawls pictured and I LOVE that you mentioned shawl pins! I made my own using polymer clay. That way, you can match it to the shawl color and style, or just make one that goes with everything.
I enjoy the different options for wrapping and styling based on the different fabrics and textures used for each wrap. It really highlights the patterns!
This website has a very nice assortment of shawl pins.
This website has a very nice assortment of shawl pins. http://www.theshawlpinstore.com/store/Default.asp
Knit shawls are usually just draped. I’ve been experimenting and this gives me more ideas. thanks.