For the past year or so, I’ve been back on a big knitting kick. This is probably due largely to the fact that lots of people I know have been having babies, so I’ve been whipping up little cardigans and pullovers and hoodies as gifts. In doing so, I’ve discovered that I quite like making kiddie knits, since they’re tiny and cute and generally go quite quickly—which is pretty much my prerequisite for a fun knitting project.

I have indulged in the odd project for myself as well, however. After finally finding a dress to wear to Richard and Wendy’s wedding earlier in the year, I went crazy looking for some sort of shawl to go with it. Both my mother and Jeremy will attest to the fact that I am a very “matchy matchy” sort of person, so I was fixated on finding a wrap that was the same color as the dress. After searching in vain for a light but warm cover-up that was just the right shade of grey/blue/purple, I decided a few days before the wedding that I should probably just make something myself.

The shawl I ultimately knit was based on a free pattern on the Berroco site. I didn’t make tassels for the shawl, and instead of using the sparkly cotton yarn specified in the pattern, I opted for a merino/cashmere yarn in charcoal grey and a bamboo/merino mix in a sort of silvery color (Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK and Prima, respectively, for those who care). The merino/cashmere yarn is soft and light but surprisingly warm, while the bamboo/merino has a lovely sheen to it which adds a touch of class to the shawl and made it just right for a wedding.

I wound up wearing the same shawl to Richard and Wendy’s wedding and to my brother’s wedding, and it kept me wonderfully cozy both on a cool English summer evening and at the top of a mountain in Canada. What’s more, I got so many compliments on it that I knew I would have to mention it here on my blog because here’s the thing: it is dead easy to make. Seriously, if you can knit at all, you can make this scarf. There aren’t even any purl stitches in it! Making and dropping the yarn overs may seem weird at first if you’ve never done it before, but it’s actually easier than knitting or purling because you’re just wrapping yarn around the needle on one row and letting it fall off the needle on the next. And since the shawl is knit on big needles, the whole thing is done in a flash; I think I spent a total of three evenings knitting casually in front of the TV to make a shawl roughly 24 inches wide and 60 inches long.

Basically, you get a lot of bang for your buck with this project. It’s far less complicated than it looks, and by tweaking the yarn and/or the dimensions of the original pattern, you can wind up with anything from a slinky little scarf to a cozy cashmere wrap. Try it, you’ll like it!