Our first project was learning the basic construction of triangular shawls, beginning with the popular garter tab cast-on.

Last week, on a whim, I signed up for the "5 Shawls, 5 Days Challenge" hosted by Frenchie of Aroha Knits.

It's not that I didn't already have enough to do outside of knitting, and I certainly have too many projects on the hooks and needles to count (you can watch my latest podcast episode for a not-so-brief glimpse into my WIPs), so what inspired me to cast on and learn basic shawl construction?

Well, I've designed accessories before, but almost always hats. As you know from following my blog, I've become obsessed with shawl knitting over the past year and was feeling ready to venture into the land of designing my own. Simple designs at first, of course, being that I'm still a total n00b at this venture, but nevertheless.

I've also needed a distraction to busy myself through some crazy times, so I took it as a sign that I needed to participate in this challenge when it randomly appeared on Frenchie's website while I was stalking her patterns.

Each day, we participants will spend 30 minutes knitting a mini shawl using the construction/shape designated for the day. Today (Monday)'s shape was the triangle shawl, which is one I've frequently knit up in other designers' patterns, so the shaping was familiar this time around. The instructions were clear and well-explained, as well as the methods for creating the shape (so you're not just following a pattern; you're understanding how you're making the resulting shape).

The best part is we'll be entered to win Frenchie's upcoming ebook about designing shawls, which she's basically a master at, so color me excited to learn from a guru. Just another reason to take part in it, right? Except it seems like there's a ton of competition based on the Instagram hashtags alone. Hmmm. I guess wish me luck!

You can keep track of all the shawl construction designs by visiting the project on my Ravelry page.