20 Fabulous Mini Skein Shawls

Hopefully you are feeling super inspired by my previous blog post about what to make with all your squishy mini skeins. There are so many shawls you can make with mini skeins, some designed with minis in mind and others you can turn an otherwise single colour shawl into a striped one! 

This blog post will focus on shawls alone. Twenty fabulous shawls you can knit with mini skeins. Disclaimer; All links with take you to Ravelry, I know Ravelry isn't accessible to everyone but it is still the most comprehensive place to find knitting and crochet patterns. All photos also come from Ravelry. 

Number 1 - Moonflower Shawl by Larissa Brown

This shawl requires approximately 1097 metres. Which is approximately 14 mini skeins. While this pattern wasn't specifically designed for use with mini skeins the striped sections would work well using minis. You may have to get creative with some of the larger segments as you may not have enough metres of a single colour, but striping more colours or using a contrast full skein you have could also work. 

Number 2 - Spectrum by Joji Locatelli

This is another pattern that wasn't specifically designed for use with minis but the thin stripes are ideal for mini skein use. The total meterage is 613 metres, so there is a lot of opportunity to customise this shawl to your preferences with the yarn you have available. 

Number 3 Feels Like Home Shawl by The Kitchen Sink Shop

I've taken this straight from the Ravelry page for this pattern; "You can knit your shawl as a total scrappy project using leftover yarn. You will need 14 different colours which can be a fade, ombre, monochromatic or random colours of your choosing. You will need up to 10 g of each colour yarn for Colours 1 – 3, up to 20 g of each colour yarn for Colours 4 – 8 and up to approx. 30 g of each colour yarn for Colours 9 – 14. Or you can choose one main colour and 7 different scraps or minis. You will need approx. 100 g of the main colour and between 10 and 30 g of each of the 7 alternating colours." 

Number 4 Love Grows Here by Calle Monster

You'll want a full 100g skein to act as the main colour for this shawl but each "flower" section, as Calle calls them, uses approximately one 20g mini skein! 

Number 5 - Loop Pattern by Casapinka

This shawl requires two 100g skeins for the main colour but how fun would these wrapped stitch sections be if you used a different mini skein for each section. 

Number 6 - The Quest Pattern by Melinda Measor

This pattern was designed with yarn advents in mind, so uses 24 minis! A no brainer, you could even try to knit a stripe each day and have the shawl finished and ready to wear on Christmas! 

Number 7 - Cloudbreak by Melanie Berg
 

This pattern needs just over 2 x 100g for the main colour (you can probably risk it with 2 and skip a few rows of the main colour sections to make sure you have enough yarn!) And 11 contrast colours of which Melanie only used 10g each. Lots of opportunity to play with colour in this shawl. 

Number 8 - Botanic Shawl by Stephen West

We all know Stephen loves to play with colour. You need 2 skeins of main colour for this beauty and 695m of CC. In Stephen's sample he has used a colour changing yarn but you can alternate and stripe as many mini skeins as you'd like to create a similar effect. 

Number 9 - Honey I Shrunk The Stash by Lesley Anne Robinson

This pattern is basically a brioche recipe to create a triangle shawl. You can play with colour and create so many unique looks. The mall version only needs 733m whereas the large needs around 300g of yarn, that is a lot of minis!

 Number 10 - Just Beachy by Lisa K. Ross

This one needs 730m of the main colour. Now each contrast colour calls for 121m, which is more than one mini skein, but you could strip two minis for each coloured section. 

 Number 11 - Painting Honeycombs Shawl by Stephen West

I'm sorry, not sorry to feature another Stephen West pattern, lets be honest, he has dozens that would work great for mini skeins. This pattern needs less main colour than the previous one, but its still over 100g. In terms of contrast colour you need 663m of contrast colours. Each stripe of honeycombs could be a different mini skein!

Number 12 - Rainbow Wings by Knitting Expat Designs

This pattern needs 100g of a main colour and 12 micro mini skeins, that means its only 10g of each colour! I love the short row shaping to create the unique shape of the shawl. 

Number 13 - True Colors by Melanie Berg

You may have noticed, I love triangle shawls. This one is no exception. You need just under 100g of the main colour and then 10 contrast colours, only one contrast colour comes close to using the whole 80m in a mini skein! 

Number 14 - Wanderlust Wrap by Tif Neilan

Design A of this shawl is perfect for mini skeins. 100g of a main colour and five contrast colours, now the pattern says you need 84 metres of each contrast and Botanical Yarn minis come with 80 metres. But I'm sure with a bit of creativity you can make it work. 

Number 15 - ADVENTurous Wrap by Ambah O'Brien

Ambah has become well known for her creative annual advent patterns. Option A is written to use 25 mini skeins! Ambah helpfully provides exact metres required for each colour. So you can plan accordingly and maximise your favourite advent minis. 

Number 16 - Earth, Wind & Fire Shawl by Susanne Sommer

I am a huge Susanne Sommers fan! This is a perfect mini skein project. So many opportunities to play with colours here. Just grab a 100g main colour and get started. I think I'll have to knit this myself! 

Number 17 - Striad Wrap by Stephanie Alford

I think there is a lot of opportunity here to mix and match and play with colours. The triangles are knit using short rows.  So you are only holding one colour at a time. 

Number 18 - Color Riot by All Knit Up Designs
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I love that this pattern is available on a "pay what you can scale". You'll need 12 minis and a 100g contrast colour for this pattern. 

Number 19 - Play it By Queer by Shanel Wu

This pattern is super striking in two colours but I think theres a lot of fun opportunity for striping and playing with main colours and mini skeins. This is another fabulous pattern that is offered on a "pay what you can" scale.

Number 20 - Duyan by Julia Parlette-Carino

I believe you can adapt any shawl to use mini skeins. Striped shawls to me are an easy one to hack as you can use one mini skein for each section, or if you're worried about running out for a section, stripe two mini skeins. 

 

My hope with this list is to inspire you to be adventurous with your knitting. You don't have to find a pattern that exactly meets your yarn requirements. You can hack or adjust patterns to work with what you have available to you. There may be a bit of trial and error involved but be brave and bold and play with colours. 

Nicola xx