Sometimes I envision myself fancier than I am. This was definitely the case when I was inspired to design the Cordelia Shawl pattern! I imagined a bride, a bridesmaid or maybe even myself as a fancy wedding guest wrapping this shawl around chilly, bare shoulders of our formal gown. We’d be so warm and still look beautiful, the perfect summer crochet pattern. What a glorious daydream since we are mostly past the “going to weddings” time in our life. If you aren’t past that time in your life, or just lead a life of more formal occasions than I do, I would LOVE to see a picture of you in your shawl and dress! It would be my dream come true!
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Dress it up or down
Even though I don’t have any formal events to attend, I did dress up a bit for my pictures. I have a beautiful floor length white dress that went just stunningly with my Cordelia Shawl – if I do say so myself! But I also dressed the shawl down with jeans and a tank top and the shawl didn’t feel too fancy for the more casual outfit either! You should definitely bring it along for cooler summer evenings and when you’re inside air-conditioned buildings. Such a great summer crochet pattern, it will compliment any outfit you’re wearing!
Customize Your Shawl
Another great thing about the Cordelia Shawl is the endless color combinations. I had a beautiful set of five coordinating mini skeins that I used for my color inspiration and I really love how they transition. But I’ve done all the math – ALL the math – so you can easily customize your Cordelia Shawl. Make it with scraps from other projects, or any number of mini or full skeins you might have in your stash- or have had your eye on to buy!
The Yarn
It’s no secret that I’m totally in love with Stroll Yarn from WeCrochet. I’ve designed a couple patterns with it, swatched with it more times that I can count and it never disappoints! It’s a dream to work with, soft and durable. It holds up well to frogging and feels nice on your skin. I love all the vibrant colors and dye techniques it comes in too. I’ve found Stroll (75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon, 231 yds/ 50g) and Stroll Tonal (75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon, 462 yds/ 100g) to have an almost identical feel and durability. The classic Stroll yarn is a beautiful, solid yarn that comes in 34 colors from bold, to soft, to classic neutrals. At $5.99 a skein, it’s a great price for fingering weight yarn. Stroll Tonal has subtle color changes within a skein, which gives it a great depth of color. Being hand painted, it is more expensive at $13.99 a hank, but is still very reasonable for a hand dyed yarn.
While the price may be more budget friendly, Stroll does not show its budget cost. It is very high quality. Unlike other budget yarns, it’s super soft. Wearing projects made with Stroll yarn against your skin is no problem. I’ve also been very impressed with how well it blocks. It dries quickly, and holds its shape super nicely. It has great loft and is color fast.
Wool in the summer?
While wool is a fiber more commonly associated with fluffy sweaters and cozy socks, it’s actually a great summer fiber too! Wool – on the sheep – is actually designed as the perfect temperature control, and we benefit in the same ways with wool yarn! Wool can be super cozy and warm; it’s also useful for wicking and temperature control. Even though I might not go out in a bulky wool sweater in the middle of summer, the combination of the wool yarn and open fabric make it perfect for cooler summer situations!
Read more about fingering weight yarn and why I love it here!
Other Supplies
The rest of the supply list is pretty small. The only other things you really need are a hook (US G-6 4.0mm), a tapestry needle (these are my favorites) and scissors (aren’t these beautiful?).
I fell in love with and always recommend Furls crochet hooks. Their Alpha Series is my absolute favorite hook line. It’s absolutely stunning and fits so well in my smaller hands. But it is one of their pricier hooks, but well worth the splurge. If you’re looking to dip your toes into Furls hooks, I love their wooden Streamline hooks too. Because of their more affordable price, I have a lot of these hooks and use them regularly. They fit nicely in my hands too, are so comfortable to work with, and glide wonderfully through yarn!
The official supply list includes blocking mats and pins, which are lovely, but not completely necessary since this shawl is lightly blocked. If you don’t have blocking mats and pins, you can use kids foam playmats and pins or even just block your shawl on a flat surface by shaping it on a clean towel.
Pin this pattern for later!
The Pattern
The Cordelia Pattern is available on both Ravelry and Etsy for you to purchase! If you’re reading this between July 19th and July 26th, you can use the code CORDELIACAL20 to save 20%.
If you’d like to get the best discounts on all my new patterns, join my email list here!
It’s a Crochet Along!
When summer comes, I tend to look for some specific things in the perfect summer crochet pattern. With the kids off school and us heading to parks and out and about regularly, I like a project that I can take on the go. It also needs to be simple enough that I can set it down to tend to a scraped knee, hurt feelings or refill my drink without taking forever to find my place again. BUT it can’t be too simple or I’ll just set it down and never finish. And not to be too picky (though some might claim I am), but it can’t be too heavy. It’s just too hot to have too much yarn piled in my lap!
Check, Check, Check
The Cordelia Shawl checks all those boxes! Lightweight lace makes it easy to take along and not too hot to work on outside. The mix of stitches is repetitive and soothing without being boring. Seriously, if we were going on vacation this year, I would totally take this pattern along! So, let’s crochet this gorgeous shawl together!
The crochet along (CAL) starts July 19th and runs through August 7th. I really hope you’ll join in; it’s going to be so much fun!
The Schedule
The First Week:
July 19th – Purchase the pattern, go stash diving or shopping
July 21st – Start that swatch – I know you never do this, but it’s more fun when we swatch together!
July 23rd – Get started – work on sections 1, 2 & 3
The Second Week:
July 26th – work sections 4, 5 & 6
July 28th – work sections 7, 8, & 9
July 30th – work sections 10, 11, & 12 – woohoo we’re done, almost!
The Final Week:
Aug. 1st – block that shawl
Aug. 3rd – add those finishing touches
Aug. 4th, 5th & 6th – Share your final pictures and enter in the giveaway!
Aug. 7th – the CAL is officially over; winners will be announced!
This is a super laid-back timeline to allow people flexibility and make sure as many people as possible can finish!
How to Join In
To get the full benefits of joining the CAL I’d love for you to join my SEK Handmade MAL group. I’ll be going live in the Facebook group to chat about all sorts of fun things and give helpful tips. That’ll also be a great place to share your progress, meet others who have joined the CAL and support and motivate each other!
Why Join in?
Crochet alongs can seem a bit intimidating if you’ve never joined one. I was SO nervous when I joined my first CAL. But really, they’re a lot of fun!
- Motivation – nothing helps me get a larger project done than a deadline! Working to finish a project by the end of a CAL is always so motivating!
- Community – it’s so much fun watching everyone’s projects grow and cheer everyone on!
- Prizes – there are going to be some great prizes available to win, yay for extra motivation!
While the motivation of prizes is a fun push to finish a larger project, CALs are actually really low pressure. Honestly, there’s no consequence to not finishing. It should be all about the fun and community!
Not on Facebook? That’s ok! Join in by sharing your progress on Instagram using the hashtag #CordeliaShawlCAL Be sure to follow me there @sekhandmade and tag me in your post. You can also post your project on Ravelry for me to see! I don’t want to miss any of your beautiful progress!
Prizes
Oh yes, there will be prizes! One grand prize winner will win an amazing prize package provided by WeCrochet! It will include a yarn ball winder, swift, and this beautiful yarn bowl! I’ll be giving away several smaller prizes throughout the CAL including, stitch markers, patterns, and this beautiful skein coat by Precious Knits Shop!
I sincerely hope you’ll join in the Cordelia Shawl CAL, but if you can’t, I’d love for you to pin this pattern for later and even go give it a heart of Ravelry or favorite it on Etsy! All of this helps and encourages me, so thank you!
Pin the pattern on Ravelry
Pin the Pattern on Etsy
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