I seem to have had a number of one-skein shawls on the needles this winter, many of which ended up as gifts. This makes everyone happy – I have something fun and quick to knit, and the recipient gets a pretty shawl.

One I just loved is also the shawl I forgot to photograph before it went on its way. Oops! The pattern is called the Gaia Shawl by Ann Carroll Gilmour. Here’s a Ravelry link that will work whether you have a Ravelry account or not. It uses one skein of Noro Kureyon Sock, a fave yarn of mine, and you get to play with making changes as you go. It came out so pretty and was a quick knit.

My most recent little shawl is this one, also knit in Noro Kureyon Sock. The pattern is Citron, and it’s a free pattern from Knitty.com. Here it is:Because I was worried about the size of the finished shawl, I added a row of holes in the middle of each stockinette section to make it a bit less solid, and also some beads around the hem. I didn’t have enough yarn for the frill, but it came out nicely without it. It’s supposed to have a ruffly row in between the rows of solid stockinette – in blocking, those ruffles flattened out, but now that the pins are off, it’s ruffling up again. I was afraid for a day that I had blocked it too hard, but all seems to be well.

Here you can see the beads:

Another quick and pretty knit; another perfect gift!

Have you knit any quick projects lately?