The ultimate in comfort knitting is a shawl in garter stitch: Every row is knit, gauge is less critical than the finished fabric, and any finished size is the perfect size. Sometimes, though, garter stitch needs to be dressed up a bit. This shawl combines the ease of garter stitch with the bling of beaded bobbles. Even better? You can use any skein of yarn in any weight -- just adjust your needle size to get a fabric you like.

To knit this shawl, you need to know how to:

• knit and purl,
• work knit front and back (kfb) and knit front/back/front (kfbf) increases,
• work a double decrease (sk2p), and
• place a bead on a stitch.

The beads placed on the bobbles are optional; instructions are given in the pattern for omitting them. The size of the beads should be appropriate to the weight of yarn used. For fingering weight, size 6/0 or 8/0 seed beads are recommended. A small crochet hook or other tool to apply the beads will be used to add the beads to an individual stitch (beads are not pre-strung).

This shawl is intended to be knit until you are almost out of yarn or are happy with the size. A kitchen or jeweler’s scale can be helpful if you are trying to maximize your yarn usage.

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