Crocheted Man Shawl Revisited

  The dude in the "man shawl" or "dude wrap" is my is my handsome. husband, Bert. The last time I crocheted and wrote an an article about the man shawl or blanket scarf, the piece attracted more readers than any other I had published to that date.  In fact, I am thrilled that readers are still drawn to the article that I wrote more than 18 months ago.(Http://www.lilcreates.com/lillians-blog/mens-crocheted-shawl-or-blanket-scarf) It takes a special kind of guy who is willing to take risks to wear the dude wrap as a fashion statement.  My smiling husband was willing to model, however, I don't see him willingly wearing the blanket scarf as an accessory.  Instead, I am happy to donate the man shawl to my Threads of Love Group. 

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The crocheters and knitters from Threads of Love create shawls and baby blankets for patients with cancer and other severe medical conditions at Yale New Haven Hospital.  We get ample donations of women's shawls and baby or children's blankets, but relatively few pieces for men. These shawls are 70 inches long and about 20-22 inches wide.  They take a long time to produce and require several extra size skeins of yarn.  When our group leader handed me handed me a bonus skein of bulky, Royal Blue,  Big Twist yarn (615 yards) and an accompanying skein of Brights and Black (447 yards), I decided to undertake the project.  Little did I know that I would have to buy an extra skein of each so that I would be able to finish the piece.  I probably used about 1/3 of the second set of skeins.  Luckily I was able to find the same colors since it was Joanne's house yarn.

I now had two decisions to make.  1) What stitch should I use? 2) How should I incorporate the solid and varied yarn in a shawl that was suitable for a man?  I did not want a fussy stitch, and a regular half double or double crochet was too simple.  The "V stitch" would provide just enough interest and texture.  Readers who are not familiar with this stitch can find directions in a tutorial, "Crocheting the Basic V-Stitch" by Amy Solovay on The Spruce Crafts website. A helpful video is Easy Tutorial by Hopeful Honey:  "How to Crochet the Double Crochet Stitch"  To crochet a shawl with a V-Stitch, you need an even number of stitches. The V- stitch pattern is achieved by crocheting Double Crochet- Chain 1, Double Crochet in a single space.  In the following lines, the V is made in the chain 1 space. The stitches line up to create a pleasing texture.

To crochet a men's shawl with chunky yarn, 26 inches wide, I began with a 76 stitch foundation chain. To decrease the width, reduce the chain size.  Just make sure to have an even number of stitches.

My color sequence continued as follows:
Royal Blue 14 rows 
To change colors, leave 2 loops on the hook of the last stitch.  Use the contrasting yarn to complete the stitch before making a 3 stitch chain to begin the new row. Leave a 4 inch tail of the old color (to weave in later). Clip off old color. Knot with new color and continue.  The knot will not show when you weave in the ends and crochet a final trim around the shawl.
Brights and Black 2 rows
Royal Blue 2 rows
Brights and Black 2 rows
Royal Blue 4 rows
Brights and Black 4 rows
Royal Blue 4 rows
Brights and Black 4 rows
Royal Blue 6 rows
Brights and Black 6 rows
Royal Blue 6 rows
Brights and Black 6 rows
Royal Blue 6 rows
Brights and Black 16 rows   At 8 rows you will have completed one half of the shawl.  After you complete the other 8 rows, you will be reversing the color sequence.
Royal Blue 6 rows
Brights and Black 6 rows
Royal Blue 6 rows
Brights and Black 6 rows
Royal Blue 6 rows
Brights and Black 4 rows
Royal Blue 4 rows
Brights and Black 4 rows
Royal Blue 4 rows
Brights and Black 2 rows
Royal Blue 2 rows
Brights and Black 2 rows
Royal Blue 14 rows.  Fasten off.

The project was 70 inches long.

Finally, I wove in the ends.   There were many ends, and I really dislike this process. However, the final product was looking good, and I only had to complete the trim of this gorgeous shawl.  I used a Half Double Crochet Stitch to provide a neat and stable finish.  I like to start and finish in the middle of one of the short ends.  Be sure to make 3 stitches in each corner so that the piece lays flat.

At our next meeting, I will be sewing in our Threads of Love Label, making a gift pack, and inserting a message of caring, hope, and healing.  Lots of love went into each stitch.