She Sows Seeds

simple country living

Shell Stitch Cowl in Ecru

by

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Of an evening in front of the fire, in between hooking my way through some of these, I’ve been doing a little shell stitching of my own. It’s nice to have a little project on the go just for me, I am constantly making baby hats and blankets but rarely anything for myself.

I am a total cold-bod – always with the chilly fingers and toes, I am rarely without a scarf in the winter months. I wanted a neutral coloured infinity scarf/cowl and had some wool in my stash that would do the trick.

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This isn’t rocket science, it’s just a big giant loop. I made it about the length from around my neck to my waist so I double it over, nice and thick, but you could make it super wide and fold it over lengthways instead too. Does that make sense? Maybe not… I’ve made cowls like that too though.

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If you don’t know how to do shell stitch there is a simple explanation over here, it’s dead easy and a must to have in your crochet repertoire. The yarn I used for this is a cheapy I picked up in Big W yonks ago, an acrylic no doubt, but soft and floppy, easy to work with and not too harsh and scratchy. It’s the perfect creamy ecru colour to go with all those winter layers of navy and black I’m so prone to (ever the Melbournian). Today I wore my new cowl friend into town with a black knitted dress, black tights, long camel cardigan and my camel suede ankle boots. The black and camel lady with the awesome handmade cowl, that’s me.

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Comments

    • Scroll down in comments and you will find a pattern someone else tried and posted on October 29, 2015. Hopes this is helpful. Also, creator says in article that this one big loop so I took that as ‘a continuous loop but can be joined with slip stitch if you choose not to do it as a continuous loop.

  2. You did your best putting the pattern together
    I think you have made lots of people happy. Thank you so much like myself. Thank you .. Waiting for the next one to enjoy crochet pattern.. Xxx

  3. Where do you find pattern for the shell stitch cowl?
    Can u please email the pattern to me
    Thank you
    Terri

  4. I have been trying to make this for the past couple days… I keep getting wavy rounds instead of flat… I’m getting really frusterated… what am I doing wrong?? ๐Ÿ™

  5. Did you stitch this in a loop the whole time, or did you stitch it together at the end?? Love this. Would make an amazing, easy christmas gift ?

      • I am not very good at creating crochet projects from scratch! Any hints at how to get this started will be of great help. Is this only one row of a single crochet base chain? May seem simple, but I feel lost without a pattern for security!
        Linda

  6. I love this pattern, such a pretty & elegant scarf, can’t wait to make it! I have a quick question though….are both edges finished off with the single crochet border?

  8. Hi I love this scarf! Maybe I’m missing something, I can’t seem to locate the pattern? Thank you ๐Ÿ™‚

    • I didn’t really use a pattern for this – entirely made it up as I went! But the comment above yours should probably help with a starting point. It sounds exactly like what I did! Good luck x

  9. I used a 6.00 mm hook and worsted weight (4) yarn.. this worked up a cowl of 60″ in circumference.I did single crochet foundation of 191 stitches, then joined with the sc foundation join, making a total of 192 sc (any muliple of 6 will work ). I then worked the shell stitch,. Start in join stitch -with 3 dc then *skip 2 sc and worked 1 sc in next stitch, then skip 2 sc and worked 5 dc in next stitch* repeat from astericks. 16 rows made a width of approximately 8″

    • Thank you so much for this info! I should’ve really paid more attention to what I was doing/written it down. That sounds pretty much like what I did though. Multiples of 6, must remember! Thank you!

    • Thanks for posting this!! I am hopeless at reading patterns, trying to come up with something myself is totally impossible. But I was able to follow your directions perfectly!

      • Oh that’s music to my ears! I always start patterns with the best of intentions and then end up doing my own thing and winging it – ha! Thanks, happy crocheting xxx

      • You can easily join your chain to work in the round (be careful not to twist your chain) or if you prefer you can crochet in rows and join at the end by whip stitching your ends together. Hope this helps you.

    • Any chance you’d do a you tube video on how to make this scarf? I’m terrible at written directions!

  10. Luv this cowl scarf! Thank you for posting. Have just finished seven afghans ……kids xmas gifts for this year, and now need to make scarfs for the girls. They all picked out their yarn last Christmas, so now I am ready, thanks to your post!

  11. Hello! I REALLY want to make this scarf. It’s so beautiful! However, when following your link to the shell stitch instructions, the page isn’t very clear. A couple of other people had the issue with the “Multiples of 6+2” and then the woman chained 25. She didn’t give a very good explanation of this except that it’s “her interpretation”. Yeah, doesn’t help. So now I have no idea how many chains I should start with! Do you remember what you did? I hope? =)

    • Sorry Carissa… I totally don’t know how many chains I started with! I know what you mean though, as I’ve made similar things since (a big blanket for my baby) and needed to know the calculation for chains… I *think* from memory it has to be a multiple of 5…or 4… Sorry, so helpful!

  12. beautiful!! I would love it if you would post again with a pattern! How many stitches between shells, how many chains to start the next row, how many shells in a row, how many rows did you make! Lol!! Love it! Just beautiful!

  15. This is beautiful. I have been all over this site but I can’t find the pattern. Can you please share the pattern?

    • There is no specific pattern really, it’s just a basic shell stitch back and forth for however big you want it! E x

  16. I have stumbled across your blog, as I am teaching myself to crochet. I was looking for something to make with some 8 ply cotton I have. What a simply gorgeous cowl! Can I ask what size hook you used for it? Keep up the good work, I will follow your blog with interest!

    • I’m pretty sure it was a 5mm or perhaps 5.5mm – it shouldn’t really matter overly, depends how ‘chunky’ you want it to look, or how quick you want it to work up. Good luck!

  17. This is beautiful! I am going crazy with finding new patterns and new winter things to make. I dont know if i missed it, but where is the pattern of this cowl scarf located? Thank you.

  18. Hi Emma, thanks for posting this, I love this scarf! Looking forward to making it myself. Can I ask, what stitch did you use for the edging? And did you slip stitch this scarf together at the end of each row to make the cowl, or sew together when it was complete? Thanks for your help! ๐Ÿ™‚

    • The edging was just a single crochet stitch, and I single crocheted the ends together. Hope that helps!

  21. it looks brilliant Emma, and I am loving the font/typography too on the “shell stitch cowl” title.

    love the ensemble you wore the cowl with too!

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