Crochet pattern: Hotel of Bees crochet shawl, pattern PDF, crochet shawl, crochet lace, crochet bees, filet crochet

***Inspiration***
This shawl takes you through the 'Hotel of Bees' from Anthony Doerr's book 'All the light we cannot see'. A hotel once owned by a wealthy bee enthusiast. We will visit the courtyard to see the big beehive shaped fountain. We will go upstairs to look at the gorgeous frescoes of child-sized bees and when we get tired of our wanderlust, we bathe in a beautiful hexagonal bathtub.

To take you through the story, the Hotel of Bees shawl consists of the following sections:

Wings
Open honeycomb
bees
filet crochet (big and small hexagons and flowers)

***This pattern includes***
Tips and tricks for each new pattern section
Trouble shooting for help with, for example, wrong stitch counts.
a video for R5 and R9 of the wings section (in english and dutch)
Charts for the filet crochet sections
Helpful photos for the more intricate stitches
A list of tutorials for more elaborate how to's for the techniques that are a bit trickier
The pattern is available in English and Dutch. Both versions also have a printer friendly option, so you can save paper and use the full version digitally for a more detailed explanation.
Visual Guide & FAQ: Section for section photos of how your shawl should look and an FAQ with most common questions about yarn and gauge, etc.

***The techniques used are***
Overlay crochet
Open crochet work
Filet crochet
Puff stitches
picking up stitches along one side
The shawl is crocheted sideways and decreases are made on one side by skipping stitches, this makes for nice little holes along the top of the shawl. A big pro (in my opinion) with this technique is that you start with the most stitches and gradually decrease. So as you get further in the pattern, the rows will go faster! Now isn't that awesome :D

These techniques make this shawl an intermediate level project. But it is also a good stepping stone for the more adventurous beginner (not an absolute beginner) who wants to expand his/her abilities.

***Yarn recommendations***
I would recommend a nice acrylic/cotton blend (like scheepjes stone washed) or wool. I would not recommend 100% cotton yarn. This will make the shawl too stiff and thus will not drape well.

In the case you are using yarn that is thicker than Stone Washed: You can use thicker yarn, but keep the following in mind; it will make the shawl bigger and thicker. This in itself is not a problem. However, do NOT try to obtain gauge. You need to crochet loosely with thicker yarn in order to maintain drape. If you can, go up a crochet hook (or two). This way it will still drape well.

***Yarn***
• 3 balls Yellow Jasper, 809 (golden yellow) or 130 g/340 m (370 yds) of a similar yarn
• 3 balls Moon Stone (801) or 119 g/310 m (339 yds) of a similar yarn
• 1 ball Crystal Quartz ((814) or 34 g/89 m (97 yds) of a similar yarn

Note: The bright yellow yarn of the first few pictures is Scheepjes Stone Washed in color Lemon Quartz.

***Gauge recommendations***

I designed this shawl as a fairly loose crocheter. It might be that you'll need a 3.5 or 4 mm hook to obtain gauge. I recommend making a gauge square, since the shawl might otherwise get too small.

It is advised that you do not need more stitches and rows than the original gauge. This will make the shawl too stiff and it will not drape well. You can, however, use less stitches than the original gauge. This will make the shawl more loose and give it more drape.

The pattern was tested in English. The Dutch version was not tested, so little typos may occur. Please contact me via email if you have found one, or if you need help with the pattern. aspoonfulofyarn [!at] hotmail.com

I hope you will enjoy your stay at the Hotel of Bees.