Peaceful Knit Shawl, Free Knitting Pattern

Peaceful Knit Shawl

The Peaceful Knit Shawl is designed as a charity project to give comfort to chilly shoulders and laps. Using only a little over one skein of Homespun yarn, the result is a beautiful shawl that can be knit quickly for the people who need them. This is a great project too if you are part of a shawl charity group and need some quick and easy projects for giving and donating. Try using yarn from your stash too. I especially loved working on this project because the shawl provides a constant warm hug and reminder that someone out there cares about them, it is a lovely handmade gesture for others!

Please note: If making this for someone who is in a wheelchair, the general guideline is that the shawl does not exceed 4 feet, as to not get tangled in the wheels. Also, I chose Homespun because of its softness, beautiful colorways and the need for these items to be easy care and machine washable. Please feel free to experiment with other yarns.

Peaceful Knit Shawl

Materials:

Sizing:

  • 17” wide
  • 48” long

Abbreviations:

  • CO: Cast On
  • BO: Bind Off
  • rpt: Repeat

  • sts: Stitches

  • yo: Yarnover
  • K2tog: Knit two stitches together

Instructions:

CO 36 sts

Rows 1-4: Knit all sts.

Row 5: K2, *yo, k2tog; rpt from * to last 2 sts; K2

Repeat rows 1-5 until about 46” from beginning.

Knit 4 more rows

BO

Fasten off, weave in any ends and block if desired. I did not block the shawl in the photos. Your Peaceful Knit Shawl is ready to wear or donate!

Peaceful Knit Shawl

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55 thoughts on “Peaceful Knit Shawl, Free Knitting Pattern

  1. Jennifer, this is exactly what I was looking for, something easy but more than just a garter stitch to knit as a prayer shawl. This is so pretty and lacy. But I'm not so busy counting that it detracts from praying! Thank you!

  2. I love the shawl – and the pattern. I'm a beginner knitter, and I've been searching for an easy but pretty pattern to make with Homespun. Thanks for this! I'm going to try it this weekend. Will be a great pattern to share with my community outreach group!

  3. Hi Jennifer,

    I'm one of the editors of AllFreeKnitting.com. We link out to a variety of free knitting patterns from all over the web and I'd love to feature some of your projects, including this one:
    http://fiberflux.blogspot.com/2011/03/free-pattern-peaceful-shawl.html

    With your permission, is it okay if I add a link to some of your projects to our site? We also like to feature a small image of featured projects in our newsletters. All credit and links, of course, would go to you and your blog.

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    Thank you,

    Caitlin

  4. Hi Caitlin,

    Thanks for your message, I send you a message on the AllFreeKnittting.com site. Looking forward to hearing from you too!

    Jennifer

  5. Jennifer—Thanks for the shawl pattern!!! I made lots of prayer shawls and now going to make some for people who are recieving chemo and "they" are looking for shawls as "they" say the people recieving chemo are always cold. I have also made an afghan for our Granddaughter to take to college using the Homespun as it is soft and warm feeling. I have a cousin who has had cancer three times, so her and I are going to get busy with making the shawls and lap robes to donate to the hospital. Bought about 26 skeins of Homespung yesterday at Michael's along with worsted wgt yarn to knit hats for the needy in our community and mittens for the mitten tree for our other Granddaughter to take to school. It is a great pasttime and thanks again for posting this pattern. Now to check out the rest of your things. Have a great day. Grandma Ynes

    1. Wow you have been busy! All of those precious people you are making your lovelies for will appreciate the time and love you put into each one. Happy knitting to you!

  6. Hi Jennifer!! this is a great shawl!! easy for a begginer like me!! Can i ask u how many stitches it would take to widen this up just a smidge?? How many is the pattern repeat??

    Susie

  7. Hi, I' so glad to find you. Thank you so much for the shawl pattern. I've been looking for a faster pattern. I need a break from the basket weave and K3,P3 patterns. We have a small prayer shawl group and we lost someone last Spring. She was a lovely lady who made many prayer shawls and Baby blankets for our Church.

    1. You are so welcome! The world definitely needs more people like you…I know those prayer shawls will be treasured by those who receive them, there is nothing like receiving something made with love. 🙂

  8. Hi Jennifer. I just LOVE the look of the Peaceful Shawl. I have recently revisited knitting from 40-somemumbleish years ago when I was just a young thang & joined the prayer shawl ministry at my church & not being very accomplished at knitting I had no idea what I might be able to knit as my very first shawl. I thank God and you that I stumbled upon your page here & am so excited to begin knitting your stunning Peaceful Shawl. I will be using size 11 knitting needles & have a lovely soft but knubby yarn by County Loom. What adjustments would you recommend for the smaller size needles? I also have a size 17 needle & wonder if you think that might work better. With the size 11 needles, will the little loops still be there? And what about adding fringe? I am so excited to have found your site! How blessed we are to have lovely people like yourself who generously share their talents with others. Thank you SO much 🙂 Mohna

    1. Ho Mohna! Thank you so much for your kind comments! So excited for you and your knitting adventures…the yarn you will be using for the shawl sounds really pretty too. I would recommend making a little swatch with the needle size you were thinking, that way you can be absolutely sure of it will have the look you desire…better safe than sorry! When ever I make a needle size change, I do that to give me the most predicable results as possible. I hope that helps! Happy knitting!

  9. Hi Jennifer.
    I really love this shawl and feel I can make one even though I'm a beginner as far as shawls go. As I'm not a "small" size, would it be possible to make it wider by doubling the cast on stitches to 72? Would that work? Obviously I would need more yarn also. Thought I would just check with you first to avoid making a mistake. Thank you for taking the time to share.

    1. Hi, that is a great question! As long as you are OK with the width of 17 inches being doubled then doubling the cast on would be fine. You might want to use a tape measure or measure a piece of yarn to the size you want and wrap it around your shoulders to make sure…happy knitting!

  10. Thank you for this pattern. I have saved it so I can come back later and try it out- shawls are such useful items for so many people.

  11. This is perfect for the mill ends of homespun I have on hand. I've been looking for a pattern to take advantage of the fact the are skeins just a bit bigger than normal. Thank you!

  12. Hi Jennifer, the colors you chose are beautiful, what color of Homepsun did you use? None of the swatches on the LB website seem right

    1. Never mind, I see a previous post says you used Mixed Berries, must be the swatch is so small – I'm going to get some this weekend and get going.- time to make something for me!

    1. The skeins for this pattern are 170 grams and 185 yards, so you will need 212 yards/195 yards to complete the project, based on the materials used in the pattern. So, 4-5 50 gram skeins, as long as the yardage is similar.

  13. Love it! I was able to adapt your pattern for the 36-peg green Knifty Knitter loom by purling the 2nd & 4th rows, and making my YO with the yarn in front of the peg. Turned out beautiful in Homespun 'Fiesta' – thanks for the pattern.

  14. Great pattern! Turned out beautiful in Homespun 'Fiesta'. I adapted your pattern for the 36-peg green Knifty Knitter loom, by purling the 2nd & 4th rows, and making my YO with the yarn in front of the peg. Thanks 🙂

  15. Hi There
    I have started to knit this shawl and when I come to the 5th row I knit 2 then YO then K2t repeated from the YO K2t but when I come to the end the last stitch before my knit 2 is a YO stitch so I always seem to gain one is this right?? Or should there always be 36 stitches Many Thanks Emma x

    1. The yo in this pattern is always worked before a knit 2 together, so there should never be a yo after/ before the last 2 stitches, for that row you will knit 2 stitches, yo, knit 2 together x 16 times, knit 2 stitches. there will always be 36 stitches since every knit 2 together is countered with a yo, to replace the decreased stitch. The yo is the start of the repeat, not the end of the repeat as you appear to be understanding it based on what is written here. Happy knitting

  16. Brilliant pattern, so glad I found it as I have a few elderly relatives and have already made one of these, it's gorgeous! Also, it took less than a week to complete! Thank you for sharing!

  17. I started a knitting ministry at my church, and this pattern is perfect. It knits up quickly and looks.beautiful every time. Love this pattern. One of my favorites.

  18. I love this shawl and I really want to make it. However, I am a beginner knitter and at row 5, I end up with three stitches at the end of the row instead of two. If I YO, it will increase the row. Please tell me what to do. Thanks.

  19. I would like to try this shawl. If I use size 11 or 13 needles, how many stitches should I cast on? How many rows should I knit?
    Thank you so much. Terri

  20. I started making a simple lace scarf a few weeks ago. It turns out to be the same pattern as yours. I am making this pattern with CO of 31 st and I plan on knitting it to 80"

  21. This is a beautiful shawl pattern, just the right thing I was looking for to use with this self striping yarn I've had for awhile.

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