Crocheted Shawl with Double V Fan Stitch

My shawl's self-striping shade of blue amnesia foam, coupled with the Double-V Fan Shell stitch reminds of the beach and sea shore.  The crocheted 60 inch by 20 inch shawl was adapted from Autumn Symphony Shawl in colors of fallen leaves using chunky yarn (#5).  The original pattern called for 588 yards to be crocheted with a K (6.5mm) hook.  The pattern repeat is a multiple of 4 +3.  After the initial chain and set up rows, follow the stitch pattern until you are satisfied with the length.

The Double V Fan Stitch consists of 2 DC, Ch I, 2DC in the same stitch .  There are 3 skipped stitches between the fans.  The fans are stacked on top of each other in following rows.

For specific directions and a video tutorial, see:  Autumn Symphony Shawl by Jennifer Dickerson on Ravelry.  I also located the pattern by searching for Free Pattern Autumn Symphony.  It popped up on the Fiber Flux website.

I did not want to work with chunky yarn .  I chose Caron Jumbo in a worsted weight Ombre called Faded Jersey. The skeins weight 12 oz and yield 595 yards. I needed about 1 and 2/3 skein to complete the project with 20" x 60 inches.  You will still need the second skein if you want only a 18 inch wide shawl.  My initial chain was 63 stitches (15x4 +3). Since I planned to donate my shawl to Threads of Love, an organization that provides shawls and blankets to cancer patients, I wanted a deeper, cozy garment.   Our group provides our pieces to Yale-New Haven Hospital,  New Haven, Connecticut.  To date we have created and dispersed about 850 pieces since we formed our group.  Thank you to my daughter, Robin for agreeing to model my work.

Given the repetitive nature of the stitching, this piece is the ideal project for crocheting in front of the television or for keeping busy on a long road trip.  I just have to check at the end of each row to make sure that I did not skip a part of a stitch as I am working.

As noted, the original pattern used chunky yarn with a K (6.6mm) hook.  My worsted adaptation used a J (6.0)hook.  However, I imagine that you could use an Mandala or other self striping yarn in DK or #3 weight with an I (5.5mm) hook. Just make the initial chain as long as you need while you maintain the multyiple of 4 + 3.  It is easy to customize this shawl for a shorter or taller person by chaining the number rows.  For a more slender person, I would probably make the shawl 18 inches while instead of 20 inches.

I usually incorporate several pieces in my blog articles. While the written work is not challenging, creating so many pieces takes a great deal of time and  effort.  When I think of a theme, I usually want to display the idea in several ways.  Earlier in my blog history, I exhausted myself and reluctantly stopped blogging for many months.  This Crocheted Shawl with a Double V Fan Stitch took several days to complete.  However, the stitches worked up rather quickly.  I have several shawls planned before my group does it is quarterly collection.  I am really pleased with myself when I can focus on one piece to illustrate one idea.  Alas, some of my future articles will not reflect such self control. As always, I welcome your reflections and feedback.  Please join me on my stitching journey.