I always like to bring a crochet project with me on vacation—something light, relaxing, and easy to pick up and put down. This time, I had my heart set on making a shawl. Nothing too complicated—just something with a simple stitch pattern or easy row repeats that I could memorize so I wouldn’t be glued to my screen or flipping pages the whole trip.

For weeks leading up to our beach departure, I searched. I scrolled through Ravelry, browsed Etsy, and even dug through my pattern stash. But nothing seemed like a good fit. I wasn’t interested in writing my own or tweaking something on the fly. I wanted to leave my designer hat—and definitely my tech editor hat—at home.

That’s the challenge, though. As a tech editor, I struggle to turn off that part of my brain. I don’t often purchase patterns unless I know they’ve been professionally edited, because honestly, it’s frustrating to spend money on something that isn’t clear or contains errors. I don’t want to be spotting issues and fixing instructions when I’m supposed to be relaxing.

All I wanted was a pattern I could trust—something simple and consistent. A pattern that would allow my hands to do the work while my mind took a break. 

Pin it Now, Read it Later! 

With just two days left before we hit the road, I made a last-ditch trip to my local yarn shop, hoping a little hands-on yarn squishing might spark some inspiration. I wandered through the aisles, letting color and texture guide me, and found a few colorways that caught my eye—but nothing that really clicked.



One of the reasons I love this shop is the staff. The women who work there know their way around both knitting and crochet patterns, and they always seem to have a few hidden gems tucked away in their mental Rolodex. I told one of them what I was looking for—something relaxing, shawl-shaped, with a bit of interest—and without missing a beat, she lit up and said, “I think I have just the designer for you.”

She pulled up Ravelry, and we scrolled together through patterns until we landed on the Seismic Shift Shawl by Carissa Browning. I was immediately drawn to the bold blocks of contrasting color and the angled stripes that formed mountainous chevrons. It was graphic yet simple, stylish, yet didn’t appear fussy. And when I read the pattern romance—the “construction,” as she called it—I was all in. Here’s what she wrote that sealed the deal:

“The construction of this shawl takes its cue from how the Hawaiian Islands were formed as the tectonic plates slowly moved over volcanic hot spots, forming new islands along the way. Beginning at the top of the shawl, a small color block is followed by a section of stripes. Next, a second color block builds up on only one side of the center peak. Stitches are then picked up along the inner edge of the color block for more stripes, but this time with two peaks (or a single chevron) in the center. Another color block leads to a third peak (two chevrons), and so on. Each color block grows larger and larger, as the Hawaiian Islands have also done, in general. The chevrons in the center call to mind the erratic zig zags of waves on a seismometer.”

Having grown up in Hawaii, the fact that her inspiration came from the islands I hold so dear made the choice even easier. I logged into my Ravelry account and purchased the pattern. Carissa had designed it using fingering-weight yarn, but I’m a die-hard fan of DK. I had several skeins of hand-dyed DK at home that would’ve worked just fine—but this felt like a special project. A getaway project deserves its own yarn, right?

So back to the shelves I went. I kept circling the store until a soft, beachy shade of purple caught my eye. It felt light, breezy, and right in line with the vibe I wanted—and of course, purple is my favorite color. The yarn was from Emma’s Yarn, a DK base called Simple Spectacular DK in the colorway Dusk ‘til Dawn. And what made it even sweeter? Emma’s Yarn is based in Florida—the very same part of the state we were heading to for our trip. It just felt like the perfect match.

For the contrasting color, I had hoped to find something variegated that would pop a bit more, but nothing quite hit the mark. Instead, I landed on a shade that paired beautifully—subtle, but pretty. It was called Cosmos, and while the contrast wouldn’t be bold, I had a feeling the two colors together would make something soft and lovely.

Once I got home, the very first thing I did—before packing a single item—was pull out my yarn swift and winder. Priorities, right?

I was far too excited to see those hanks transformed into neat little cakes, ready for my hook. So excited that I didn’t even get a photo before winding them up! I almost swatched, too. I really did. I even started to. But then I paused. And you won’t believe this—I decided to skip it.

I know. Coming from someone who’s a firm believer in swatching (and has said so many times), I surprised even myself. But this trip was about rest, not rules. I just wanted to enjoy the process from beginning to end without overthinking it. So I packed my project bag with both colorways—two skeins of each—tucked in my trusty 3.5 mm crochet hook, and told myself I’d adjust if I needed to. No tension math, no gauge-checking. Just yarn, hook, and go.



Friday morning arrived, and with the car packed and my project bag riding shotgun, we hit the road. The drive from Dallas, Georgia to Sarasota, Florida is no quick trip—roughly 550 miles and close to eight hours, give or take. That’s prime crocheting time.

I waited until we merged onto I-75—once the road straightened out and the curves settled down. Crocheting on winding roads never ends well for me, and neither does trying to stitch when my husband gets a little too spirited with the steering. I told him flat out: once we hit the highway, it needed to be crochet-friendly cruising from here on out.

He laughed, I popped in an episode of Up and Vanished, and we found a rhythm. Hours passed, yarn flowed, and by the time we pulled into our vacation rental—after 11 hours, two sit-down meals, one gas station stop, and exactly 1,508 stitches—I was already hooked.

Most mornings after breakfast, I’d squeeze in a few stitches before slipping into the pool for a swim. I didn’t bring my project along on outings, and definitely not to the beach. I’ve never been a crochet-at-the-beach type. I’m more of a saltwater-soaker, floating in the waves until my fingers prune.

In the evenings—after a sunset swim or a long soak in the hot tub—I’d settle in with my yarn as my husband snored beside me on the couch. By the time we packed up to head home, I had added another 4,530 stitches. I’m nearing the final color block now, though I know I didn’t hit gauge. That’s okay—I plan to keep going until I use up both remaining cakes and reach the size I’m aiming for.

I’ll be writing a full review of the pattern soon, and hopefully by then I’ll have it finished and photographed so you can see the final result. 

What about you? Do you bring crochet projects on vacation—or do you leave the yarn at home? I’d love to know what’s on your hook right now. Drop a comment and share a photo of your project!