First “intermediate” crochet pattern ~ What I’ve learned by row 15

I’ve decided that my first “more complicated” crochet project will be the Sidewalk Shawl by Red Heart. { Designed by: Kimberly K McAlindin] I am loving the pattern and the Red Heart Soft yarn.  Red Heart Soft was a suggested substitute .

The pattern recommends..

Required Supplies:

• STITCH NATION by Debbie Stoller® Bamboo Ewe®: 6 balls 5410 Mercury (Bamboo Ewe is discontinued)
• Crochet Hook: 5mm [US H-8]
• Yarn needle

You also will need stitch markers!!  You can see how they’re used to mark the end /begining of each row during MarlyBird’s video.  MarlyBird also has a video about reading the pattern. Both video’s are helpful.

Included on Red Heart’s site is a diagram of the base pattern. I like having the diagram available as a visual reference.

stitch diagram

note special stitches

A few things that I found helpful while reading the pattern so far…

1. READ the whole pattern before starting. Read the special stitches and the abbreviations .
2. READ the whole row’s instructions before starting the row.

This isn’t a book. You’re not going to spoil the ending by reading ahead!!

3.  Mark what row you are currently working on.  I’ve even gone so far as to cover the other rows because I’m looking from my work to the pattern frequently. I mixed two rows.

You KNOW someone will talk to you and keep talking to you even if you count your stitches out loud.

mark which row you are working

cover other rows if need to look from work to pattern frequently

The video was a tad long, so I may have missed this but they didn’t seem to address the pattern past the base rows. For me, someone who is attempting their first intermediate pattern I found the instruction (which first appears in Row 13)

repeat from * across end at **

a little confusing. It took a little research but I found it to mean repeat the section of pattern across the row until the end.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out! I’ll make sure to add another post when I’m done.

The pale green behind the soft gray shawl is a simple wrap that I’m making. I’ll also post posts and talk more about the super easy pattern to make it.

What’s on your hook?