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Flat Section on a Curved Shawl?

V’s Question

Dear Aoibhe.

I am almost halfway crocheting through your lovely Lunula shawl but have a question re the “36 L40tr” stitches on Panel 3 -does this mean 36 rows of 40linked trebles without increasing or decreasing?

If so, I am confused as I thought the shawl was circular.
Is the midpoint of the shawl the middle of these 36 rows?

Could you clarify this for me please?
Many thanks!
– V


Aoibhe’s Answer

Hi, V!

Thank you for your insightful email.

To answer your question, your interpretation is correct.
I can confirm you are being asked to make 36 x L40tr as you thought you were.

Here’s the logic behind it, so you know you’re on the right track;

The purposes of the [increases] at the beginning and end of Panel 3 and later the Short Rows that are added is twofold;
First, yes, they are there to increase the number of stitches and help bring your shawl into a curve, but they’re also there to help compensate for the growing stitch height.

Without all those increases and short rows the open edge of Panel 3 would get quite tight and wouldn’t lie flat.
It’d be unwearable.

So, while I know it seems like a sudden shock to stop increasing all of a sudden, you will notice in that 36 stitch stretch we also stop growing the height of the stitches, so we’ve way less need for the short rows at that point. That section will lie flat without any outside help.

The 36 stitch stretch is there for a few reasons, too;

Firstly, it’s a good breather and gives the crocheter a chance to take stock, make sure your stitch counts are working out and then to work on from there. It’s a good time to count the stitch spaces you have remaining to you, and to make an adjustment if you have too few or too many.
(just add extra L40trs if you have too many sts left, or pull back a few if you’re running low)

But secondly, that big solid gold block is the shawl’s main feature, so I thought adding short rows to it which would interrupt the gorgeous flow of that golden yarn would be doing it a disservice.
Panel 4’s increases will help ease that flat section into a curve, so it won’t look out of place.

Your shawl will indeed curve as you want it to, so worry not.

I do appreciate your question though. Thanks for asking.

Happy Crocheting!
A x

PS. Hey, crochet fans! If you’d like to have a go at Lunula, you can find it here!


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32 Stitches Short

a woman dressed in black holds a solid, golden shawl around her shoulders. She's looking to her left and is standing in front of a dark background.

Elizabeth’s Question

Hello Aoibhe Ni.
I am currently working on your Lunula Shawl. 

I have reached the end of Panel 3, but I still have about 32 stitches left, and I CANNOT figure out what I am doing wrong!  Please can you tell me where I am messing up?

– Elizabeth


Aoibhe’s Answer

Hi, Elizabeth!

32 stitches is a lot to be short at the end of a panel, so I had a good chew on my thinking pencil, and I think I’ve found where your Lunula went astray.

Panel 3 includes the instruction:
“SR23, YO, 36 L40tr”

All the other instructions prior to this one contained 4 Linked stitches, instead of the 36 you see in the instruction above.

I think what’s happened here is that you did 4 Linked stitches, accidentally leaving off the remaining 32 by accident.
That’d certainly account for the discrepancy.

I do hope this helps!

Happy Crocheting!
A x

PS. Hey, crochet fans! If you’d like to have a go at Lunula, you can find it here!


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Searching For Torc

sun shines through a violet tunisian crochet shawl

A’s Question

Hi Aoibhe Ni!
I was looking at your Ravelry store and I love your patterns. I tried to purchase the pattern for the Torc shawl but couldn’t find a link to do so. Is the pattern still available?

Please let me know as I would love to crochet this one, thank you so much!

– A


Aoibhe’s Answer

Hi, A!

Wow, your timing could not have been better!
Torc is the very last pattern from my two Legendary Shawls collections to transfer from Ravelry to my own site, Yarn Towers.

After getting your message I made some time and added it to the site, so you can now get it as your own leisure, AND for less than it would have cost on Ravelry because I won’t be paying any Ravelry fees to sell it!

I’d recommend making an account on Yarn Towers, by the way.
It’s totally free, no-one will pester you with emails, but it will give you access to any future updates the pattern may receive and you can log in at any time and download your patterns again and again. Emails are so easy to delete by accident, but this way you’ll never lose access to the patterns that matter to you.

Happy Crocheting!
A x

PS. Hey, crochet fans! You can get your very own copy of Torc right here!