Well, I am not sure of your question. Is the shawl triangular? Does it have a pattern such as cables? If it is plain, it would be easy to make a shawl. You could just knit each row--garter stitch. If you want it to look lacy, use thinner yarn and larger needles. If you want it thick and warm, us a thicker yarn and smaller needles.

Do you know how to increase and decrease? You just do that every so many rows till you get the measurement you want for a plain triangular shawl. For a wrap--a long rectangle -- it is even easier.

You will have to be more specific with your question if you are seeking more information.

Of course, there are a ton of free patterns on the internet too. Just google them.

It's all about gauge. Say you see a shawl and you want it to be a scarf. The gauge is 4 stitches per inch. You want the scarf to be 8" wide -- you cast on 32 stitches. Now -- you do need to take in consideration any pattern and the repeat of that but basically it is gauge. Ditto with making it bigger for an afghan.

I've just started spinning so I am learning more and more everyday about my own creativity. Elizabeth Zimmerman is an essential author to any knitter's library.

Cathy

Sorry, I should have given examples. One pattern I'd like to use for an afghan is a shawl pattern that's a variation of "fan and feather." Another is a woven-type stitch that says cast on 400 (!) stitches and knit the scarf lengthwise but I want to knit it across the width. Then there's a cable stitch that's reversible, knit in ribbing. They're all rectangles. I just want to go wider, or narrower and can't figue out if there's a way to tell what multiples the stitch needs.

There's a free pattern for a shawl, throw, and scarf made with the feather and fan pattern. I'll include a link. It's on the KnitPicks.com site.

For patterns that say to cast on 400 stitches and knit lengthwise, I'm pretty sure that's the way you'd want to do it. To knit the same pattern widthwise would take one heck of a lot of conversion to get the same pattern to the stitches. I know that it would boggle my mind...

Here is a link that might be useful: Feather and Fan Shawl, Throw, and Scarf

If you have the pattern, it should give the pattern repeat, usually between asterisks in a written pattern and outlined in a chart. Then as clink said, check the gauge of your yarn by doing a swatch, decide how wide you want your scarf or afghan to be and figure out the number of stitches to cast on. You may also need to take into account the borders. You can knit the pattern on a lengthwise scarf widthwise but it wouldn't look the same. Patterns may not easily be down-sizable if the pattern repeat is very wide. For example with some feather and fan patterns, the repeat is 18 stitches, which means only 2 or 3 repeats for a scarf on heavier yarn, like worsted or aran. However, you can use a thinner yarn like fingering or sport and get more pattern repeats for the same width.

Thanks, threejsmom - that was what I was looking for. Once I counted the stitches between the asterisks, I knew how many to add or subtract. I should have thought of that.

The lengthwise scarf, by the way, only had 2 stitches so it was easy to convert - just use an even number of stitches. I'm using it for a dishcloth in a varigated yarn and it's coming out great. Here it is if anyone wants to try it.

Pattern
Row 1: *p1, move yarn to the back and slip the next st, move yarn to the front * repeat between * .
Row 2: *k1, move yarn to the front and slip the next st, move yarn to the back* repeat between *.