I was inspired recently to make a shawl with sleeves from granny squares. I had a knitted version come up in my social media newsfeed and it looked like a fun way to make a shawl more functional as I don’t like the idea of having to hold them into place when wearing them.

What do you think?

So how did I make it? I used a square from the Hooked on Crochet Club library and joined as I went. I made it four squares wide and fifteen squares long. Once the squares were made I created the sleeves on the short ends of the rectangle of squares. I joined the first to the last square on the end to create a circle and added a round of single crochet and then double crochet (US terms) to create a base. I then created ribbed sleeves by alternating back and front post double crochets. The concept definitely worked, but I would make some changes.

The biggest change I would make would be to make it longer. I was limited with yarn for this one. I used a sport weight yarn from my stash that I didn’t realise had been discontinued. I only had the two balls and thankfully was able to find one more online in the colour that I was using. It would have been better if I had had four balls, but I made do! If I’d had more yarn I could have made more squares, maybe made it wider as well as longer, and then added longer sleeves. If I ever shrink back to previous sizes then it would fit more the way I had intended, but I’m not going to hold my breath there! How it is now I can wear it, but if I don’t get the fitting right it is almost like being in a straight jacket.

You don’t necessarily need to make it from squares either. You can make any crochet fabric that you want to as long as you make it a rectangle. I would recommend using a sport weight yarn to make it less bulky, but there is no reason why you can’t make it with a thicker yarn if you prefer.

A couple of tips when making it. One is to keep track of how many squares you get from one ball of yarn. You can then figure out the math for number of balls of yarn needed. Once you get to the sleeves, if you are limited on yarn then I would split the last part into different balls of yarn. By splitting it it will make it easier to just make the sleeves until no yarn is left.

If you try to make one, let me know how you go! I’ll be going into more details with my Hooked on Crochet Club members in a Hook and Learn lesson in a couple of weeks. You’re welcome to come and join us for that lesson and all our weekly lessons by becoming a member.

Seona x