A single large skull sits across the chest, solid black fabric for the face against an open diamond-mesh background, with the eye sockets, nose, and teeth gaps left as actual holes in the stitching rather than embroidered or layered on. The rest of the piece is sheer net — wide bell sleeves, a round neckline, and a dramatically asymmetrical hemline that drops to a point on one side. No color variation anywhere, just black yarn against skin, which is really the whole point of the design.
What’s doing the heavy lifting here is contrast between solid and open stitching, not color or embellishment. The skull reads clearly because the mesh around it is airy enough that the dense, compact skull shape stands out sharply against it. If the background were worked in the same density as the skull, the whole motif would disappear into the fabric. That’s the core technical challenge of this piece: building one filet-style image into an otherwise open net shawl and keeping the two densities distinct enough that the picture actually shows up.
This suits someone who’s comfortable with filet crochet or graph-based crochet already, since the skull itself is essentially a charted image translated into solid and open blocks, the same logic behind any filet crochet alphabet or picture panel.
How the Skull Actually Gets Built
Looking closely at the close-up shot, the skull’s solid sections — the cranium, the brow, the nose bridge — are worked in tight single or double crochet, filled in block by block the way filet crochet images are built from a charted grid. The eye sockets, nasal cavity, and the gaps between the teeth are simply left unworked or worked as open chain spaces instead, letting the background skin or fabric show through.
That’s a meaningfully different technique than crocheting a skull motif separately and sewing it onto a solid shawl. Here, the skull is part of the same continuous piece of fabric as the mesh around it — same yarn, same pass, just alternating between solid stitch and open chain space depending on where you are in the chart.
The mesh making up the sleeves, shoulders, and skirt-like drape below the skull looks like a simple diamond or hexagonal net, probably built from repeated chain-and-stitch clusters rather than anything with its own pictorial content. That open structure is also why the piece drapes the way it does in the photos — a solid, dense fabric wouldn’t fall and move the same way.
Materials You’ll Need
- Black yarn, a worsted or medium weight based on the visible stitch texture (a cotton or cotton-blend would hold the mesh’s shape well, though a drapey acrylic blend would also suit the flowing silhouette)
- A crochet hook sized to your yarn (see below)
- Yarn needle, for weaving in ends
- Scissors
- A filet crochet chart or graph paper, for mapping out the skull motif before you start (this is less optional than usual, since the whole motif depends on an accurate grid)
- Stitch markers, useful for tracking where the solid skull section begins and ends within the open mesh
Yarn and Hook Notes
The mesh in the photo is clearly open and lacy, while the skull itself looks dense and compact by comparison, which suggests a standard worsted weight yarn with a hook on the larger side relative to that weight — something that keeps the mesh airy without being so oversized that the solid skull blocks look chunky instead of crisp.
A hook somewhere in the 5mm to 6mm range is a reasonable starting point for a worsted weight yarn used this way, though filet work specifically benefits from swatching both the solid block stitch and the open mesh stitch together before committing, since getting the contrast right between the two is what makes the image legible from a distance.
Skill Level
This is an advanced project, mainly because of the filet-style motif rather than the overall shawl shape. Working a charted image into fabric means keeping accurate count of exactly where you’re solid versus open, row after row, without the visual feedback a simpler stitch pattern gives you — one miscounted row and the skull’s proportions shift. Someone who’s comfortable with basic filet crochet, even on a smaller project like a bookmark or doily, will have a much easier time scaling up to a full shawl than someone encountering the technique for the first time here.
Stitches Likely Involved
- Chain (ch) — the open mesh spaces throughout, and the foundation row
- Slip stitch (sl st) — joining and finishing rounds
- Single crochet (sc) or double crochet (dc) — the solid blocks that form the skull’s cranium, brow, and nose bridge
- Filet crochet charting — not a stitch itself, but the technique of alternating solid blocks and open spaces according to a grid to produce the pictorial skull
- A simple diamond or hexagonal net stitch for the sleeves and body mesh, distinct from the tighter filet grid used for the skull section
Building It: A Practical Sequence
Chart the skull motif before picking up your hook. Since there’s no official pattern to follow here, sketch out a grid — even a rough one on paper — marking which squares will be solid and which will be left open, using the photo as your reference for where the eyes, nose, and teeth gaps fall.
Start the shawl at the neckline, working the open mesh pattern first to establish the round neck opening and the beginning of the shoulder and sleeve shaping.
Transition into the filet section once you reach chest height, switching from the open net stitch to the solid-and-open filet technique according to your chart. This is the part of the project that demands the most attention — count carefully at the start and end of every row.
Return to open mesh below the skull, letting the piece widen and drop into the asymmetrical, pointed hem visible in the photo. This section can be worked more loosely and intuitively than the filet portion, since there’s no image to preserve.
Shape the bell sleeves with steady increases worked into the mesh as you move outward from the shoulder, flaring the net wider toward the cuff rather than keeping it a uniform width.
Finish the asymmetrical hem by ending rows at different points rather than working a level final row, which is what produces the dramatic diagonal drop seen on one side of the piece in the photos. A simple scalloped or picot edge along the hem would echo the open, lacy character of the rest of the mesh.
Weave in ends and block the piece flat, paying particular attention to blocking the filet skull section, since this is what will square up the grid and make the image read cleanly rather than looking warped or uneven.
Adjusting the Fit and Look
Because this is an oversized, draping shawl shape rather than a fitted garment, sizing is fairly forgiving — width and length can both be adjusted by adding or removing rounds of mesh before and after the filet section without disrupting the skull itself. The neckline circumference is the one measurement worth checking against your own head and shoulders before finishing that section.
If charting an image from scratch feels intimidating, simplifying the skull to a more basic, blockier shape — fewer fine details in the nose and teeth — makes the filet charting considerably easier to execute correctly on a first attempt.
Where It’s Easy to Go Wrong
Losing count within the filet section. A single stitch miscounted early on compounds as you work upward, and the skull’s proportions can shift noticeably by the time you reach the top. Check your chart against your work every few rows, not just at the end.
Not enough contrast between solid and open stitching. If the mesh gauge and the filet block gauge end up too similar, the skull won’t stand out clearly against the background. Keep the open mesh noticeably looser than the solid skull blocks.
Uneven mesh tension in the sleeves. Since there’s a lot of open mesh here with few fixed reference points, tension can drift wider or tighter without you noticing until the piece is laid flat. Check your gauge periodically against earlier sections.
Skipping blocking on the filet section specifically. An unblocked filet image can look slightly skewed or compressed, even if the stitch count is correct. Blocking squares everything up and is where the skull image really comes into focus.
Care
Hand washing in cool water and laying flat to dry is the gentler approach for an open mesh piece like this, since the lacy structure can stretch out of shape if hung wet. Avoid high heat when drying regardless of fiber, since it risks distorting the open stitch work. Check the specific yarn label for anything particular to the fiber you chose.
Common Questions
Is this shawl beginner-friendly?
Not really — the filet skull motif requires charting and careful counting that goes beyond basic mesh or granny-square work, so this is better suited to someone already comfortable with filet crochet.
Can I use a different color than black?
Yes, though black is doing real work here in terms of mood and in making the open eye sockets read clearly as dark voids against the mesh — a lighter color might soften that effect considerably.
Do I need a special chart to make the skull?
Not a purchased one necessarily, but you do need some kind of grid to follow, even a hand-drawn one, since the filet motif depends on accurate, consistent counting row by row.
Can I make a smaller or simpler version?
Yes — reducing the skull to a smaller, blockier shape with less facial detail would be a reasonable way to practice the filet technique before attempting something as detailed as the version shown.
